A Family and the Evening Herald

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there is insufficient evidence to allow him to come to a decision that three articles in the Evening Herald about an individual who was murdered were in breach of Principles 1 (Truth and Accuracy), 4 (Respect for Rights) and 5.3 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The complaint was made on behalf of the deceased person’s family. The complaints made under Principles 1 and 4 were about statements alleging that the deceased, who had no criminal convictions, was “known to the Gardaí” and had criminal associations. The newspaper responded that while they accepted that the articles were distressing to the complainant, what had been published had been as accurate as was possible in the immediate aftermath of the murder.

While the publication of the material in question was quite obviously very distressing for the family of the deceased man, and although the complainant submitted ancillary evidence to support his good character, there was insufficient independent or corroborative evidence to allow the Press Ombudsman to make a decision on the truth or accuracy of the particular statements in the article complained about under Principle 1, or that they amounted to a breach of Principle 4.

The complaint under Principle 5 related to the need for the feelings of grieving families to be taken into account. Given that the first of these articles appeared within a very short time after the murder, this should obviously be a consideration for any publication. However, in the confused circumstances following this widely reported crime, and in the absence of authoritative evidence that the circumstantial material complained of was inaccurate, no decision can be made about the complaint that that the publication of such material was in breach of Principle 5.

9 December 2010

The Family appealed the decision of the Press Ombudsman to the Press Council of Ireland.