A permanent stay of criminal proceedings on the ground of pre-trial publicity requires a 'significant and unacceptable likelihood' that the trial would be vitiated by impermissible prejudice and prejudgement. The bar is very high. Even where government sources (police or prison staff) leaked prejudicial information about the accused's criminal history to the media, a permanent stay will not be granted unless the leaking was sufficiently condoned or authorised by those in authority in the investigation to constitute deliberate engineering of publicity by the Crown. The lapse of time and the capacity of judicial directions to diminish prejudice are significant factors weighing against a stay.
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