A weekly newspaper which named a child in a court report has been absolved of wrongdoing by the press watchdog.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation found the Fife Free Press could not reasonably have known the boy mentioned in a court report it published had been 12-years-old at the time the story went to print.

The boy’s mother, Freida Alsafar, complained to IPSO that the Free Press had breached Clause 6 (Children) and Clause 9 (Reporting of crime) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article which reported that a couple had appeared before a Sheriff’s court to be charged with racist abuse and assault.

The story noted that one of the couple was alleged to have acted “in a racially aggravated manner intended to cause alarm or distress to Frieda and [complainant’s son’s name] Alsafar” and that they were released on bail with the special condition that they not approach Frieda and her son.

The complainant said her son should not have been named in the report, and it had caused him considerable distress.

The Free Press apologised, but said there had been no indication at the hearing, or in court papers, that her son was a minor. If the newspaper had been aware of his age, he would not have been named.

On receipt of direct correspondence from the complainant, the editor had written her a letter apologising for the distress caused, and had assured her that her son’s name would not be included in any future coverage of the case. During the IPSO investigation, the editor offered to write a further letter of apology to the complainant’s son.

The complainant did not accept this, and said any apology should come from the reporter who wrote the article.

While IPSO sympathised with the child’s distress, and welcomed the newspaper’s positive response to the complaint, it did not consider that any intrusion had been unjustified given that the newspaper was unaware of his age and circumstances.

The complaint was not upheld, and the full story can be read here.