A regional daily editor has explained his decision not to re-publish photos of “unbearable squalor” in a child neglect story.

Peter Barron, of The Northern Echo, has written a blog post about the “ethical considerations” facing the media, writing that readers “might be surprised at how much isn’t published” because of such concerns.

It follows a serious case review published last week, which highlighted a series of failings by child care professionals relating to Child H.

The badly neglected boy ended up half-blind and wrote a desperate “Help me” message on his bedroom wall and his mother and step-father, Gillian Hendry and Craig Dick, were jailed last year for child cruelty.

The Northern Echo covered the serious case review on its front page.

Following their conviction, prosecutors released photos showing the squalor in which the family lived, which were used prominently across the media.

But Peter wrote that ahead of the publication of the serious case review, he received a letter from the chairman of Stockton’s Local Safeguarding Children Board, Colin Morris, who raised concerns that the images would be used again.

The letter explained that the original publication of the photos had a “significantly detrimental impact” on the child’s emotional wellbeing and had led to highly distressing remarks from fellow school pupils.

In his blog, Peter wrote: “It should be made clear that there was no criticism of the media for using the pictures after the court case.

“They were released to underline the seriousness of the crimes committed by Hendry and Dick. Perhaps, with hindsight, that was the wrong call by prosecutors but, nevertheless, there was a clear acknowledgement of a public interest in showing the extent of the neglect.

“There was no demand from Mr Morris not to use the pictures again, just a polite request to editors to take make the child the priority – to appreciate that he had already been through more than enough in his short life.

“The conclusions of the report were published in detail on The Northern Echo’s front page under the headline “We failed you”. The public interest was about holding the child care experts to account for letting down a little boy so badly.

“However, I complied with the request not to re-publish the pictures of the unbearable squalor in which he had been forced to live.

“The media does get it wrong sometimes – but the ethical arguments are weighed a lot more responsibly than people may appreciate.”

Peter added that the serious case review did contain some good news because the boy had regained some of his sight after an operation and is now “doing well in a loving environment”.