A man complained to the press watchdog after a woman named him as an alleged internet “troll” on her Facebook page after linking to a regional daily’s story.

Martin Flynn went to the Independent Press Standards Organisation when the Belfast Telegraph ran a story about alleged online abuse endured by the woman, whose brother had been shot dead by a soldier almost 46 years ago, after she “hugged the killer’s commanding officer after he broke down during the inquest”.

The Bel Tel had not identified Mr Flynn in the story, but the woman in question repeatedly named him as the alleged “troll” in comments posted below a link to the online version of the article on her personal Facebook page.

The link had been posted to her page, without comment, by a Telegraph reporter.

Complaining under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, Mr Flynn said that the article had contained false allegations against him and expressed concern that the newspaper had made no attempt to contact him before it proceeded to publish the allegations.

Denying a breach of Code, the Bel Tel explained that it had not sought Mr Flynn’s comment before publication because it had no intention of naming him in the piece, and the reporter had made no comment whatsoever when she posted the article to the woman’s Facebook page.

Before publishing the article, the reporter had checked the woman’s Facebook page to verify that abusive comments had been made, and it provided three examples, which it said supported the story’s accuracy.

During IPSO’s investigation of the complaint, the Bel Tel offered to publish a clarification noting that a number of the claims made in the article were “misleading”, resolving the issue to Mr Flynn’s satisfaction.

No adjudication was made on breach of Code, and the full resolution statement can be read here.