A mother complained to the press watchdog after a regional daily reported that her convicted murderer daughter had been “kicked out” of the family home.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation rejected Clare Warren’s complaint against Newcastle daily The Chronicle over its reporting of her daughter Zoe, pictured, who had been convicted of murder and witness intimidation.

In a story focusing on Warren’s background, character, and details about the crimes that she had committed, The Chronicle reported claims from a source claiming to be a former friend of hers who claimed that “when she got into drugs [her parents] didn’t want her under their roof, so she went to live with her Nana, but then her Nana kicked her out”.

Complaining to IPSO under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, Ms Warren said that her daughter was not “kicked out” of the family home, or her grandmother’s home, but added she spent some time away from the family home in 2013 and that she would occasionally visit her grandmother overnight.

She also said that the article was biased as it only published comments which had been made by the source, and she expressed concern that the source did not provide these comments in good faith.

Denying a breach of Code, The Chronicle said that it had interviewed a reliable source who had claimed to know the complainant’s daughter well and was able to speak in detail about her personality and background, based on his knowledge of her and her family.

The newspaper said that it was reassured that the source had provided the interview in good faith, because he demonstrated balance and stated that the complainant’s daughter’s actions seemed out of character, as reported in the article.

It said that in the circumstances, it did not have any reason to doubt the veracity or accuracy of the information provided by him and provided a copy of the notes taken by its reporter during the interview, which recorded the source’s comment that “she went to live with her Nana then her Nana kicked her out”.

Nevertheless, The Chronicle offered to remove the wording from the online article and to add a footnote to the article to highlight the amendment made, as a gesture of goodwill, and further offered to publish a clarification in print, to make clear that Warren was not “kicked out” of her grandmother’s house.

IPSO found The Chronicle was entitled to report the source’s comments, adding that it did not consider the article to be significantly inaccurate in circumstances where the complainant accepted that her daughter spent some time away from the family home and would occasionally visit her grandmother overnight.

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