Below are summaries of the latest complaints involving the regional press which have been resolved between the parties involved, with help from the Press Complaints Commission.

Northern Scot
William Duncan, of Elgin, complained that an article reporting that he had been found guilty of driving with excess alcohol had inaccurately claimed that he had been ‘caught by officers in Edgar Road’, and that he was soon leaving Scotland to live in Tenerife. A subsequent clarification had made clear that he had said that he was leaving the country (but had not specified Tenerife), but had failed to address the question of where he was caught. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following clarification: Two recent articles (‘Driver banned’, 16 February and ‘Error in court report’, 2 March) reported that William Duncan had appeared in court for sentencing, having been found guilty of driving with more than twice the legal limit of alcohol. The first article claimed that Mr Duncan had been ‘caught by officers in Edgar Road’. In fact, Mr Duncan has asked us to make clear that – although he was reported for driving on Edgar Road – he was ‘caught’ by officers at home in bed.

Express & Echo
Tammy Smith complained on behalf of her sister, Miss Debbie Nichols, that an article reporting the suicide of Miss Nichols’ ex-partner had contained excessive detail about the method he had used. The complainant was also concerned that the newspaper had named Miss Nichols’ children. (Clause 5)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper sent a private letter to the complainant apologising for the distress caused by the article.

Evening Standard
Councillor Alibor Choudhury, of London, complained that the newspaper had inaccurately referred to a court case with which he had been involved. He indicated that he did not “stand trial” for assault, as the charge was stayed at a committal hearing on the grounds of abuse of process. Mr Choudhury contended, in fact, that he was the victim of the assault, which left him wounded. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following correction: Further to our article of 21 September 2006 which described how Tower Hamlets Councillor Alibor Choudhury appeared in court in connection with charges of violent disorder, we have been asked to point out that it was a committal hearing and not a full trial. We have been informed that the case did not collapse because witnesses refused to give evidence but because the prosecution was stayed. We are happy to clarify this. The newspaper also removed the relevant articles from the website, annotated its records to reflect the complaint and contacted a third party website (which carried the articles) to make clear the action it had undertaken.

Pontypridd Observer
Councillor Robert B McDonald, of the Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, complained that the newspaper had shown a photograph of his domestic bin – though he was not actually identified in the article – and suggested that it had been placed outside before collection day in breach of regulations. In fact, the complainant made clear that the rules related only to rubbish bags, and there was no legislation regarding waste placed in standard bins. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper agreed to publish the following clarification: BIN WARS Further to an article published in the Pontypridd & Llantrisant Observer on January 25 headlined 'Council U-turn on fine for pensioner in bin wars’, we would like to make clear that householders can be fined for leaving rubbish bags – not domestic bins –- out on non-collection days. Our story was therefore incorrect in stating that a councillor's bin flouted the authority's own rules by being out on the "wrong" day.

Irish News
Aiden Grew complained through Kevin R Winters & Co solicitors of Belfast that an article was inaccurate in describing him as a ‘Senior Dissident Republican’ and ‘alleged IRA leader’. The complainant was concerned that the article was likely to prejudice his forthcoming trial on charges of VAT evasion. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The matter was resolved when the newspaper published the following statement under the heading ‘Aiden Grew’, although the complainant’s solicitors remained concerned at the implications of the original article and possibility that it could prejudice their client’s trial: A report into a shooting at Blackwatertown in Co Armagh, which appeared on May 17 2006, referred to Aiden Grew as a ‘senior dissident republican’ and ‘alleged IRA leader’. Solicitors for Mr Grew, who is awaiting trial on charges of VAT evasion, have asked us to make clear that he denies these allegations.

Billericay & Wickford Gazette
A woman from Billericay complained about an article which reported that a school boy had been hit by an unknown assailant. She said that the assailant was her son but explained that he had disabilities, suffered learning difficulties and showed aspects of autism. She sought to explain that the incident had occurred because her son had been subjected to taunts about his disabilities. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The newspaper explained that the article had been published from details within a police crime report. However, the editor agreed to annotate the newspaper’s internal records with a note of the complainant’s concerns and objections. The complaint was resolved on this basis.

The Press (Yorkshire)
Lindsey Hall complained on behalf of North Yorkshire Police that an article was inaccurate in stating that £28,400 had been spent on the construction of a shower room at the police HQ. In fact, the cost had been £23,379. The complainant also objected to a number of offensive comments about the force's Chief Constable that had appeared on a message board on the newspaper's website. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The matter was resolved to the complainant's satisfaction when the newspaper confirmed that internal records had been tagged so that journalists returning to the story would know the correct costing information. References to the £28,400 figure were also removed from the newspaper's website. In relation to the message board comments, the newspaper group's head of legal apologised sincerely to the Chief Constable for any embarrassment and distress.
Notwithstanding the above, the newspaper maintained that there had been no material inaccuracy in the article and that there had been no breach of the Code of Practice in this case. Because the complaint was resolved the Commission did not make a formal judgment on the matter or, conclude, therefore that there had been a breach of the Code.

Evening Standard
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, complained that a number of articles were misleading in the way they described a report that had been released by the London Assembly on the subject of affordable family homes.
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper agreed to publish the following correction, which covered the main points under dispute, under the heading ‘Affordable Homes’: In our article on 20 June it was said that a London Assembly document on the need for more affordable and family homes in London confirmed that homes designated for key workers were being sold for £400,000. We now acknowledge the report only referred to ‘reports’ that this was happening and expressed its concern. We are also happy to clarify that the London Assembly report did not accuse Mayor Ken Livingstone of failing to define what ‘affordable’ means in relation to housing schemes, nor did it identify a series of affordable schemes where ‘homes are far beyond the reach of key workers’.

Basildon and Wickford Recorder
A woman from Billericay complained about an article which reported that a school boy had been hit by an unknown assailant. She said that the assailant was her son but explained that he had disabilities, suffered learning difficulties and showed aspects of autism. She sought to explain that the incident had occurred because her son had been subjected to taunts about his disabilities. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The newspaper explained that the article had been published from details within a police crime report. However, the editor agreed to annotate the newspaper’s internal records with a note of the complainant’s concerns and objections. The complaint was resolved on this basis.

Basildon Echo
A woman from Billericay complained about an article which reported that a school boy had been hit by an unknown assailant. She said that the assailant was her son but explained that he had disabilities, suffered learning difficulties and showed aspects of autism. She sought to explain that the incident had occurred because her son had been subjected to taunts about his disabilities. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The newspaper explained that the article had been published from details within a police crime report. However, the editor agreed to annotate the newspaper’s internal records with a note of the complainant’s concerns and objections. The complaint was resolved on this basis.

Billericay Weekly News
A woman from Billericay complained about an article which reported that a school boy had been hit by an unknown assailant. She said that the assailant was her son but explained that he had disabilities, suffered learning difficulties and showed aspects of autism. She sought to explain that the incident had occurred because her son had been subjected to taunts about his disabilities. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The newspaper explained that the article had been published from details within a police crime report. The editor published a statement from the complainant which set out her concerns and objections in addition to annotating the newspaper’s internal records with a note of her position. The complaint was resolved on this basis.