CIVIL servants have banned the public from seeing video evidence used to convict child killers and other criminals.
The move would stop people seeing footage of the kind used to convict Ian Huntley in the Soham murder trial.
The ban is part of new national guidelines introduced by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), prohibiting staff from giving material used as evidence in trials to the media.
The development came to light after journalists were refused CCTV footage of killer Michael Robinson boarding a train the night he murdered Northumbria University student Sara Cameron, 23, in Earsdon, North Tyneside.
Robinson, 30, formerly from North Shields, was jailed for life at Newcastle Crown Court last week after he admitted the murder and attempted rape.
The new policy,which has been approved by the Director of Public Prosecutions, includes a ban on the use of CCTV footage of criminals and transcripts and tapes of police interviews with suspects and witnesses.
Brenda Flint, Newcastle-based spokeswoman for the CPS, said: "The guidance has come about following concerns over a number of national cases where video and audiotapes of interviews with suspects, CCTV footage and victims' statements have been passed to the media and used in broadcasts."
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