The Press Complaints Commission has upheld a complaint against a weekly newspaper over a ‘gratuitous’ report on the suicide of a man facing sexual assault charges.
The death of Ameet Mohabeer was reported in Luton’s Herald & Post under the headline ‘L&D ‘pervert’ is found dead’
His civil partner, Rod Hemley, complained to the PCC claiming the newspaper breached Clause Five of the Editor’s Code of Practice, which covers intrusion into grief.
The PCC upheld the complaint in an adjudication published today.
At the time of his death, Mr Mohabeer had been facing 13 charges of sexual assault on a male and four charges of causing a man to engage in a penetrative sexual activity.
The offences were alleged to have occurred at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, known locally as the L&D, where he had been employed.
Mr Hemley said that the use of the word “pervert” in the headline was insensitive and inaccurate, and that the newspaper had wrongly stated that Mr Mohabeer had been due to enter a plea at a forthcoming court appearance, when in fact he already entered a plea of not guilty prior to his death.
Although the newspaper published a correction and apology on the issue of the not guilty plea, it continued to argue that the use of term ‘pervert’ in the headline did not breach Clause Five.
In its adjudication, the Commission ruled that the newspaper was entitled to report the allegations against Mr Mohabeer and the existence of the criminal case in the context of his death.
However it went on: “Mr Mohabeer’s death had occurred just days before publication. The word “pervert” was clearly a pejorative and colloquial term, and it had been presented prominently as the headline on the front-page story.
“Given that Mr Mohabeer had been contesting the sexual abuse allegations at the time of his death, and he had not been convicted of any crime in this regard, the Commission judged the phrase to be unacceptable and gratuitous.
“It therefore ruled that its presentation – so shortly after Mr Mohabeer had taken his own life – constituted insensitive publication under the terms of Clause 5. It upheld the complaint.”
Outgoing PCC director Stephen Abell commented: “This case is an important contribution to the Commission’s case law, which sets out specific standards expected of journalists.
“Reporting death can be a difficult area, with a need for balance between the right of the public to be informed and the need to protect those personally affected by it.
“This ruling by the Commission sets down an important marker in reminding editors and journalists that, whatever the circumstances of a particular story, the Commission will always expect publication to be handled sensitivity”.
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Yet another daft decision from the PCC. How could the newspaper report this sensitively and do its job? By saying this man passed away peacefully in his sleep aged 87 with his family at his bedside? Life can be distressing and newspapers sometimes have a public duty to report distressing aspects of life. But that should not be grounds for a PCC complaint. T’he distress comes from the facts of the incident not the reporting of it.
I quote:
“At the time of his death, Mr Mohabeer had been facing 13 charges of sexual assault on a male and four charges of causing a man to engage in a penetrative sexual activity.”
Whether the headline is justified is a matter of opinion. There may have been a sub-deck. If not, there is an argument for one. The nationals, with highly skilled legal departments, run stories and headlines like this all the time and the PCC does nothing yet the local Press get hammered. We need one set of rules for ALL newspapers.
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Well said Oldbill, spot on.
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I think the word pervert is the issue. Also unless it was used in the story in a quote then in fact it IS the newspaper who is referring to a man who in the eyes of the law innocent as such.
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What this shows is that newsrooms like to play judge and jury and have no regard for the consequences. Whether we like it or not, news conferences are usually slapdash affairs where careful consideration is rarely in evidence. As a result we get the rubbish above (and the nationals are worse – ask a certain Bristol landlord).
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Shabby standards by this paper. This bod had not been convicted so no justification in calling him a pervert, made more sick especially after his sad death. How clodhopper journalism this was.
I agree with House Rules. These blunders by over eager papers play into the hands of our critics of which there are many.
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The headline certainly needs a sub-deck saying something like “Tragedy of hospital worker accused by police of 17 sex charges”. The word pervert is quoted, implying it is an allegation by another party; in this case the police. Hence the need for a sub-deck as attribution for the quoted word. The word pervert would not have been used in the charges but is a fair summary of what the defendant is ACCUSED of being. Distasteful but true. This incident may have distressed the people involved but that is not the fault of the newspaper. The facts caused the distress. If we keep going along the PCC route we shall end up asking court defendants if they mind their cases being reported and how they would like that done.
Give journalists clear guidelines like rules on interviewing minors or not describing precise methods of suicide and let them get on with their jobs. Woolly, confused judgments like this by PC amateurs help no-one. And I guarantee if this complaint had been levelled against a national paper it would have been thrown out.
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‘L&D ‘pervert’ is found dead’
could easily be
Sex accused found dead
simple
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Surely “weasel quotes” forgive all sins.
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It would be interesting to find out if the ‘victims’ received any taxpayers money from the Criminal Injusries Compensation Board.
In view of the death of the accused, they may well make pay-outs on the balance of probabilities.
Likewise, is the hospital deemed culpable in any way? The alleged offences took place on their premises by one of their employees. I reckon there’s mileage in the story yet.
As for the headline, it was chosen for impact rather than legal accuracy. Technically wrong so slap of wrists…
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For info, there was a prominent subhead with this story ‘Hospital worker, 28, accused of sexual assault was due back in the dock to enter plea on Monday’ The court date error was corrected on the front page the following week.
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House Rules – it always used to be that if someone is dead, it doesn’t matter whether they are “innocent in the eyes of the law” or not. You can’t libel the dead. I think oldbill has it right and it is so often the regional press, with dwindling staff numbers and experience, that is getting hit hard and rather unfairly, compared with the nats.
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