Complaint
Mr and Mrs Ennis complained under Principle 1 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals (Truth and Accuracy) that an article in the Sunday World contained statements it said Mrs Ennis had made about her late son, but that she had never made the statements in question. They also maintained that whereas the newspaper stated that their son had few criminal convictions, in fact he had none.
The newspaper did not make any response to the complainant or to the Office of the Press Ombudsman.
Decision
As the newspaper did not provide any evidence to challenge or refute the denials by Mrs Ennis that she had made the statements attributed to her in the article, or her statement that her late son had no criminal convictions, the opinion of the Press Ombudsman, on the basis of the evidence available to him, is that the article concerned was in these respects a breach of Principle 1 of the Code of Practice. The complaint is therefore upheld.
Mr. and Mrs Ennis also complained that a number of other statements in the article about their late son and his activities were untrue. However, in the opinion of the Press Ombudsman, the complainants’ belief that they were untrue is, without additional corroborative evidence, insufficient to support a finding that the statements concerned were in breach of Principle 1 of the Code of Practice. These complaints are therefore not upheld.
