The Courier-Mail pleads guilty to family law breach in the Italian sisters custody case The Courier-Mail's coverage of the custody dispute on May 15 and 16, 2012. The Courier-Mail has pleaded guilty to breaching the Family Law Act during its coverage of an international custody battle over four Italian sisters last year. The Australian Federal Police launched an investigation into the Queensland newspaper after it last year published the names and photographs of the sisters at the centre of the dispute. Photos of the girls were published on the front page of the The Courier-Mail on May 15 and 16 last year, prompting a complaint from the Chief Justice of the Family Court. The four Sunshine Coast sisters who were caught up in an international custody battle. The matter was mentioned in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday. Barrister Jeff Hunter, for the newspaper, told the court the publisher intended to plead guilty to four counts of contravening the Family Law Act. The guilty plea came despite previous indications the paper would defend the charges. The four sisters, who were born in Italy, were caught in the custody dispute after they did not return from an Australian holiday with their mother in 2010. The family defied an order by the Brisbane Family Court last September that the girls be returned to their Italian father in Florence for custody hearings. The girls, then aged 15, 14, 10 and nine, were ultimately removed from their Sunshine Coast home in October by Australian Federal Police and flown to Italy. The Courier-Mail matter was listed for sentencing in the District Court at a date to be set. with Patrick Begley