fell by 8.5% to 28,300 with a multiple copies sale of only 2%.

The morning tabloids showed a collective decline of 8% with The Daily Mirror taking the biggest hit down 11% to 34,000. The Star finished just on the right side of 50k and The Sun dropped 4,600 or 8% to 55,600 (The Sun also ran a half price offer during the Euros in the first half of 2016)

The Daily Mail fell 11% to 41,000 and The Times are showing a pretty impressive increase of 44% year on year. Again, like its sister Sunday, the use of multiple copies which were not used in the Jan June figure last year account for that dramatic swing.

The Herald was down 11.3% to 39,000.

In the overview, the figure for the morningTHE High Court has heard an elderly man should not stand trial for rape because it was legal, almost 50 years ago, to force his wife to have sex.

The man, now 80, has been charged with offences including two counts of rape against his wife in 1963.

Yesterday the Full Court of the High Court, sitting in Adelaide, was asked to intervene and prevent his trial from going ahead.

David Bennett, QC, for the man, said 1960s attitudes made Australia a "socially backward country" and contemporary values should not be applied to the case.

"In 1963, Australia was a very unenlightened and socially backward country by modern standards," he said.

"In major respects, 1963 was a pre-enlightenment year and 1991 was a post-enlightenment year."

Mr Bennett said reinterpretations of law should not criminalise