The Plymouth Evening Herald has lost its appeal against a court ruling which said a photograph it published identified a 15-year-old boy even though it was partially blacked out.

In January the paper was fined £1,500 after it was found guilty of breaching an order under the Children’s and Young Persons Act.

The paper maintained that in printing the picture it had behaved in accordance with newspaper industry standards and had decided to go beyond the usual black bar across the eyes of such a photograph to prevent identification and had also blacked out the boy’s nose and hairline.

But an appeal heard at Plymouth Crown Court failed to convince Judge Michael Roach that the conviction should be overturned.

The newspaper said that although it was disappointed with the decision, it would not be taking the matter further.

Editor Alan Qualtrough said: “Obviously we are extremely disappointed – we thought we had a good case. However we accept the decision of the law.”

The newspaper was ordered to pay £150 court costs.

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