British press websites never allow comments on current or pending court proceedings, as they could potentially be deemed prejudicial by the court, and the newspaper as ‘publisher’ would be liable.
I understand that principle. Usually accompanied by a disclaimer that it’s for legal reasons (not in this case). And there are plenty of crime articles published every day by the DM where comments are allowed, even before sentencing of the miscreants. Just made me go hmmm... but I could be wrong.