By Erin Pearson
For more than 90 minutes on Thursday, the name and face of accused murderer Patrick Orren Stephenson was out in the public domain.
The local footballer from Mount Clear, a semi-rural suburb of Ballarat, had been arrested and charged with killing missing mother Samantha Murphy.
Patrick Stephenson has been charged with murdering Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy.Credit: The Courier/Adam Trafford
But as he appeared Ballarat Magistrates’ Court for the first time late on Thursday afternoon a court order banning publication of his name, date of birth and address plunged major details of the case into a black hole for the next 19 hours.
The events across Thursday have raised serious concerns about the prevalence of unnecessary or potentially ineffective suppression orders being issued in Victoria – some to accused charged with the state’s most serious of crimes.
In the past year, hundreds of interim and proceeding suppression orders involving accused child sex abusers and alleged murderers have been granted, keeping their names and other information about their cases from the community.
There were 521 suppression orders made in Victoria last year compared to just 133 in NSW. There were almost as many publication bans issued in Victoria than all the other states combined.
A court order banning publication of Stephenson’s name, date of birth and address was lifted a day after it was granted. Credit: The Age
On Thursday Stephenson, 22, sat in the dock, dressed in tradesman work clothing, as his lawyer David Tamanika asked for a gag order, claiming because it was his client’s first time in custody and he was at risk of self-harm.
No evidence supporting concerns about his mental health was called.
“It’s his first time in custody. As you can imagine there is significant seriousness to the allegation and there may be some risk of self harm,” Tamanika said.
There was vigorous opposition from about a dozen media outlets in court who represented themselves to argue the order was futile and unnecessary as Stephenson’s name and image had already been published. Others pressed that there was no evidence of any risk to the administration of justice or to Stephenson’s safety.
But Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz agreed to the interim suppression order, saying the matter could be agitated again in mid-April.
She noted there was a significant community interest in the homicide case but said it would continue to be a “high-profile matter” and that the accused man was entitled to a fair trial.
While media outlets were busy pulling down stories that already contained Stephenson’s name and photo, behind the scenes they combined forces, rallying to fight the case on Friday morning.
The court would later hear the chief magistrate intervened and ordered the case be urgently returned for hearing. But by late on Thursday night, Tamanika was already advising media outlets he would withdraw his application.
On Friday Tamanika was back in court revealing that the suppression application had been “destructive” to his client, who had instructed him to pull out of the fight.
“It had nothing to do with any form of disrespect or disregard for ... Mrs Murphy’s family,” Tamanika said.
He said he asked for the order because of his client’s young age, position in custody, the seriousness of the charge and the intense publicity.
Despite granting the interim suppression application, Mykytowycz told the court on Friday she would never have let the order continue without sufficient, credible evidence, which she said currently did not exist.
Thomson Geer lawyer Conor O’Beirne represented half a dozen news outlets at the hearing, saying outside court: “The media being able to fully, fairly and accurately report on serious criminal matters like this is fundamental to public confidence in the system.
“The number of suppression orders made in Victoria is always of concern to the media. Public confidence in the criminal justice system depends on the media being able to report what goes on inside Victorian courtrooms.
“Parliament and our highest courts have long made it clear that suppression orders are a last resort, they should only be made in exceptional cases.
“Full and fair reporting on criminal matters by the mainstream media also serves to combat the rumours and innuendos that get floated on social media.
“Open justice isn’t about letting the media report whatever they want, it’s about ensuring the public know what is going on inside some of our most powerful institutions.”
Stephenson, who remains in custody, is due to reappear in court on August 8.