Francis, bosses 'remorseful' for magistrate comments

The Supreme Court has heard an argument that the talk show host Bob Francis and the operators of radio station 5AA should receive light penalties for contempt of court.

Both have pleaded guilty to one charge, and were recently found guilty of a second.

Francis is now facing a potential jail term.

In October last year Francis made on-air comments about a man charged with possessing child pornography, and magistrate Gary Gumpl's decision to consider bail.

Francis would not comment on the case outside court today.

"I feel terrible, I feel remorseful, and I just want it over with," he said.

"You know I can't say anything, so don't ask any questions, really."

Inside court, his lawyer did the talking.

Dick Whitington said Francis was handed misleading information about the child pornography case.

He said his client's intention was to get the listeners to remonstrate with politicians but he accepts he went too far.

A lawyer for Festival City Broadcasters said the magistrate was paid a generous out of court defamation settlement.

He said 5AA had no warning of Francis's comments and neither encouraged nor condoned them.

But the DPP said Francis' program ran for three-and-a-half hours and could have been taken off air.

The court heard ratings for the show have since plummeted.