A complaint against the Newham Recorder over its reporting of a murder trial has been upheld by the Press Complaints Commission.

The mother of the murder victim told the PCC that the Recorder’s article ‘Bedsit Killing: Gang’s jailed’, published last December, contained an inaccuracy relating to the day of her son’s death.

The Recorder had written that Rizwan Yousaf had visited his landlord and “upset (the landlord’s wife) with his aggressive demands”.

This was actually a claim made by the defence in court and had never been established as fact.

CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Yousaf pressing the doorbell of his landlord’s house and then walking away after the door was unanswered.

The complainant accepted her son had visited the house to pick up a key.

The investigating police officer on the case wrote to the Commission in support of the complaint.

The Newham Recorder said that it merely reported what was said in court.

The defence claimed Mr Yousaf had kicked the door of the house and hurled abuse at the landlord’s wife and the Recorder told the PCC that this claim was not challenged in court.

The paper also provided reporter’s notes showing that the prosecutor had referred to it when questioning a defendant and said the CCTV footage was inconclusive.

The PCC’s adjudication said it was regrettable a dispute about a small part of the article could not have been resolved at an early stage in a proportionate way.

It added that the reporter’s original copy had said Mr Yousaf had ‘allegedly’ upset the landlord’s wife but this word was omitted from the published article.

By doing so, the article had failed to distinguish comment from fact adequately and had therefore breached Clause 1 (accuracy) of the Code.

PCC Decision: Complaint upheld.