A HEREFORD Times journalist successfully challenged a proposed court order restricting the publication of a serving police officer’s address.

Former West Mercia and current Metropolitan Police officer Michael Vincent, 38, of Humphreys Close, Stroud, pleaded not guilty at Hereford Magistrates Court to a charge of assault by beating Alison Vincent on April 28 at Worcester.

John Nutman, mitigating, argued that a Section 11 restriction should be imposed to restrict the publication of Vincent’s address.

He said it was needed to reduce the risk to Vincent as a serving police officer.

Chair of magistrates Robyn Lee accepted that the current ‘tensions’ meant that the risk to police officers was ‘significantly higher’ than it would normally be.

However, Hereford Times reporter Ben Goddard argued that there were not sufficient national security grounds to impose such an order to deny the publication of Vincent’s address.

“The public has the right to know. We have people ringing up regularly with requests for their address to be withheld which are declined. Being a police officer is no different to any other profession.”

Mr Goddard also said that in practicality only the street name would be disclosed and not the full address.

After 15 minutes of deliberation magistrates agreed not to grant the Section 11 restriction order.

Mrs Lee said: “We must be satisfied an order would act in the public interest of open justice. Allowing names or addresses to be withheld is rare and case law suggests the court should only restrict in the administration of open justice. I don’t feel this is the case in these circumstances.

“We refuse the restriction but note the representation from the Hereford Times that they only print the street name and not the full address which is also part of our decision.”

Vincent is due to stand trial at Redditch Magistrates Court in July.