Mr Sean Fitzgerald and the Sunday World

The Press Ombudsman has decided that there is insufficient evidence to allow him uphold a complaint by Mr Sean Fitzgerald that an article about him in the Sunday World on 10 November 2013 was in breach of Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The complainant said that statements in the article referring to him in connection with reported attempts by a convicted criminal to make approaches for money on his behalf were untrue. He also complained that other statements in the article reporting that he had declined to make a formal complaint, and that he was ‘living in fear’,  were untrue.

The newspaper responded that all its information came from reputable and impeccable sources who monitored the movements of a recently released drug dealer and his associates.

The Press Ombudsman decided that the evidence advanced by the complainant was insufficient to  support a decision that the article breached Principle 1 of the Code of Practice.

10 February 2014