14/08/2007

A Scottish local newspaper has had a complaint against it, made to the Press Complaints Commission, upheld.

The Badenoch and Strathspey Herald was considered to have breached three of the commission’s rules, following its reporting of a sexual assault on a girl.

The complainant - the girl’s mother - argued the article, in particular its reference to a visible injury previously suffered by the victim, would have assisted those in her small community in identifying her daughter. 

Says the PCC: “The Commission, while acknowledging that the editor had a difficult job to do in striking the balance between what was legitimate detail and what was likely to contribute to the girl’s identification, considered that he could have taken greater care in this case by omitting the reference to the injury. It ruled that Clause 11 (Victims of Sexual Assault) had been breached as a result."

It continued: “As the Commission found that the material was likely to have contributed to the girl’s identification in this way, it followed that the content of the article would have had a considerable impact on the girl in breach of Clauses five (Intrusion into grief or shock) and six (Children).”

To read the full adjudication, click here.

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