The majority of complaints made to the Press Complaints Commission, which raise a possible breach of the Code of Practice, are resolved directly between the Commission’s staff, editors and complainants.

These are either settled to the express satisfaction of the complainant following some remedial action by the editor or are not pursued by complainants following an explanation or other response from the publication.

Below are summaries of the latest complaints involving the regional press which fall into the first category.

Birmingham Mail
Mark Collier of Birmingham complained that an article had inaccurately alleged that a man, who crashed his car in the same location where the complainant’s brother and two friends had died in a road accident, was the father of one of the deceased. (Clauses 1, 5)
Resolution: The editor first expressed his sincere condolences to the complainant and sought to explain that the allegation originated from firefighters at the scene of the accident. However, subsequent to the publication of earlier editions of the newspaper, the police then offered guidance that the victim was not in fact thought to be a relative of the deceased and the newspaper therefore changed the headline and introduction of the article in its later editions.
The editor also said that he would be meeting with police to ask that they reconsider their decision not to reveal the victim’s identity. He offered to publish a full apology if his identity proved him not to be related to those victims from the first accident. The editor emphasised that it was not the newspaper’s intention to make matters worse for any of those involved.

News Shopper
A couple complained that a court report covering their sixteen year old son’s hearing for planning and carrying out an attack on his family contained inaccuracies. They said that, contrary to the claims in the article, the court did not hear the following pieces of information: that their son was ‘obsessed’ with violent video games; and that he spent most of his spare time painting figurines which he used to map out his plan. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the editor – who defended the points raised by the complainants – agreed to annotate the newspaper’s records with their concerns. The editor said that this note would serve to alert the newsdesk before it published any future stories.

South London Press
A couple complained that a court report covering their sixteen year old son’s hearing for planning and carrying out an attack on his family contained inaccuracies. They said that, contrary to the claims in the article, the court did not hear the following pieces of information: that their son was ‘obsessed’ with video and fantasy games; that he was ‘one of the most gifted in school'; that he asked them ‘repeatedly’ in the weeks leading up to the incident how he could become a millionaire; that he believed if his family died he would benefit from their inheritance; and that their twelve year old son was left ‘severely disabled’. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The group editor defended the points raised by the complainants but agreed to annotate the newspaper’s records with their concerns so that the journalist covering the sentencing would be aware of the details under complaint. The editor also made clear that she intended the sentencing report to be ‘fair and accurate’, taking into account the specific matters (any remarks regarding their son’s character; any reference to the support of his loving family; any reference to mental health issues; the damage caused by emotive language; and the damage caused by violent or sexual details) to which the complainants had made reference. The editor said the newspaper’s aim would be to report the matter in a manner that minimised distress to the family.

The Mercury, South London
A couple complained that a court report covering their sixteen year old son’s hearing for planning and carrying out an attack on his family contained inaccuracies. They said that, contrary to the claims in the article, the court did not hear the following pieces of information: that their son was a ‘fantasist'; that he was ‘obsessed’ with video and fantasy games; that he was ‘gifted’ in school; that he asked them ‘repeatedly’ in the weeks leading up to the incident how he could become a millionaire; and that he believed if his family died he would benefit from their inheritance. The complainants also said that the court did not hear that their twelve year old son ‘escaped’ from the house; or that he was left ‘severely disabled’. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The group editor defended the points raised by the complainants but agreed to annotate the newspaper’s records with their concerns so that the journalist covering the sentencing would be aware of the details under complaint. The editor also made clear that she intended the sentencing report to be ‘fair and accurate’, taking into account the specific matters (any remarks regarding their son’s character; any reference to the support of his loving family; any reference to mental health issues; the damage caused by emotive language; and the damage caused by violent or sexual details) to which the complainants had made reference. The editor said the newspaper’s aim would be to report the matter in a manner that minimised distress to the family.

The Crier, Somerset
Barbara Middleton, Interim Manager for Accessible Transport West Somerset (a community transport scheme) complained that an article reporting the resignation of one of its co-ordinators contained inaccuracies. The complainant argued that Ron Wright had not ‘resigned’ but had – in fact – accepted redundancy, a package which included several thousands of pounds of charitable funds in a tax free redundancy payment. Furthermore, the complainant said that there had been no price increase from £20 to £125 for the use of the scheme’s mini bus and that there had been no ‘huge hike’ in price for many users. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The newspaper offered to publish a letter from the complainant to allow her to set out her position. However, the complainant decided to let the matter rest and allow her concerns to be registered through a statement on the PCC website.

Daily Post, Liverpool
Vincent Tomlinson, chairman of the Merseyside Black Police Association, complained that the question he had been asked – “Is Liverpool uniquely racist?” – had been replaced in the article by the question “Should we be ashamed of our attitude to race?”. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published a letter from the complainant and an apology in its Trust the Post column on the opposite page. The newspaper also amended its online records with the question that had been posed to the complainant.

Bolton Evening News
A woman complained that the newspaper’s reporting of a house fire had been misleading. Specifically, she contended that the photograph used had clearly displayed her house number, and that this would misleading imply to readers that the DIY blunder which caused the fire had taken place at her home. (Clauses 1, 3)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper wrote a private letter of apology to the complainant, ensuring that greater care would be taken in the future when covering stories of this nature.