A Man and the Sunday World

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint by a man that an article about him in the Sunday World was in breach of Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The man complained that the newspaper had described him as a person who had “a string of convictions for sexual attacks”, which he said was inaccurate.

The newspaper pointed out that the full statement about the complainant in the article read that he had “a string of convictions for sexual attacks and assaults”.  The newspaper   provided details of the complainant’s criminal convictions in this regard which, although some of the detail was disputed by the complainant, was sufficient to justify the statement complained about.

In these circumstances, the complaint is not upheld.

5 June 2014

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