Trial begins for former Jersey Senator

The trial of former Jersey States Senator Stuart Syvret has begun.

He faces charges of breaking the data protection law. On Monday the prosecution began by outlining its case.

The reason why Stuart Syvret is in the Magistrate's Court dates back to 1999 when Jersey Police were concerned that a nurse might be murdering patients at the island's General Hospital.

The police launched an investigation into it and interviewed 45 members of staff. Ultimately they concluded there wasn't any evidence to support their suspicions.

Ten years later Stuart Syvret published that confidential police report on his blog naming the nurse in public for the first time, and referring to him as 'a Harold Shipmanesque mass murderer' who was still on the loose in Jersey.

All of this, the prosecution said on Monday morning, was 'sensationalist, alarmist and ill informed' and was done simply to shock the public and draw attention to himself. They said Mr Syvret simply should never have named the nurse - and that instead, he acted as judge and jury.

Now Stuart Syvret will get a chance to outline his defence.

Trial begins for former Jersey Senator