Complaint
Mrs Whelan complained that an article published in the Irish Daily Mirror on 1 July was in breach of Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals, because its headline had described her late son as a drug addict, which she said was untrue, because the inquest evidence was that prescription drugs had been identified in his system after death.
The newspaper responded that evidence given at the inquest had been that, as well as prescription drugs, methadone levels within a lethal range had been found in the deceased. They maintained that because methadone is normally prescribed for people addicted to opiates, their description of the deceased was both true and warranted in the circumstances. It said it was sorry that the complainant had been upset, and sympathized with her on the tragic and untimely loss of her son.
Decision
While there was no evidence that the deceased was described as an addict in the course of the inquest proceedings, the headline was based on a reasonable inference by the newspaper based on the evidence given on that occasion, and was therefore not a breach of the Code of Practice. At the same time, it is recommended that newspapers generally should, in the interests of bereaved families, remember that addiction is an illness, and not a criminal offence, and should avoid any possible, even incidental and unintended, implication to the contrary.
