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.

Western Morning News
Paul Young, chief fire officer of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, complained that articles which sought to report a meeting of Ilfracombe Town Council – to which he had been invited to discuss proposed changes to the service – were inaccurate and misleading on a number of points. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following correction and apology:
“Following a meeting in Ilfracombe on January 2, the Western Morning News reported that Devon and Somerset Chief Fire Officer Paul Young had admitted to “mistakes” in the handling of proposed downgrading of fire cover in the town. We accept Mr Young never used that word. We also said he had referred at the meeting to fire response times being increased to “at least eight minutes” when in fact he actually acknowledged that fire cutbacks would result in response times being greater than currently, but made no reference to a specific time. Finally, we reported that Mr Young, when asked if there was sufficient cover in Ilfracombe, said: ‘No. I would rather there was more.’ We accept that Mr Young was referring to Devon as a whole and not Ilfracombe. In an article on January 4 we reported Mr Young as saying lives could be endangered as a result of fire cuts. We accept he did not say this. We wish to apologise to Mr Young for these errors.”

The Scotsman
J Chandler & Co (Buckfast) Limited complained through Watersule Solicitors that a photograph illustrating an article about underage drinking – showing an individual holding a bottle of Buckfast Tonic Wine – was misleading, as the newspaper had not made clear that the photograph had been staged by police. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following clarification:
“On Thursday December 27 we ran a front page story under the headline ‘Shame of Scotland’s child drunks’ which carried statistics on the number of children arrested for being drunk and incapable. The article was accompanied by a photograph which depicted a young person apparently under the influence of alcohol sitting on a swing holding an empty bottle of Buckfast Tonic Wine. We did not make clear to readers that the picture was posed by a model and was not a real situation. We accept that we should have done so in an accompanying caption.”

Sunday Mercury
Lisa Mowe, deputy news and PR manager for Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, complained that the newspaper had claimed in a front-page headline that it was reporting the “shocking truth” of the last moments of a tragic incident. In fact, the report contained conjecture about what had happened; the truth would only be established following the official inquiry. She was also concerned about the manner in which a reporter had contacted a fire-fighter. (Clauses 1, 10).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper annotated its records to make clear preferred contact methods of the Fire and Rescue Service and the factual point that an inquiry would establish precisely what had happened during the incident.

London Lite
Allen & Overy LLP complained that an article had inaccurately claimed that Shazia Wahab – a former employee and candidate in the latest series of The Apprentice – had won £1m in damages from the complainant in a sex and race discrimination claim. Although Ms Wahab had made allegations of race and sex discrimination, the complainant made clear that none of these allegations had been upheld, although one of six allegations of victimisation had been. Moreover, her claim was made for less than £1m and the Employment Tribunal did not award any amount of damages. Ms Wahab subsequently agreed terms upon which her employment with the complainant would end. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper annotated its records with the points the complainant had made and undertook to ensure that all future articles reflected the correct position.

Liverpool Echo
Mrs H McConaghy, of St Helens, complained that the headline to an article about the death of her son Neil had inaccurately set out that he had been killed while trying to take copper from a roof. In fact, Neil had not been on a roof, but in a derelict property, when he was killed. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper explained that the online headline had always reflected the accurate position and annotated its records with the points of the complaint. The newspaper also undertook to report on the inquest into Mr McConaghy’s death when it took place.

Cambridge Evening News
Paul Fabb, of Newmarket, complained that a court report had inaccurately set out that he was the individual who had been involved in taking his girlfriend’s car without consent and crashing it. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published a clarification in the following terms:
“Mr Paul Fabb, from 28 Falmouth Street, Newmarket, has asked us to make clear that in our report of a court case involving a man who took a BMW car without his girlfriend’s consent and then crashed it, the defendant was not him, as we reported, but Peter Fabb, from Sawston. We apologise for the error.”