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Daily vindicated over images of stab threat 15-year-olds on train

NewIPSOA regional daily has been vindicated after publishing images of two 15-year-old girls who threatened to stab and rob passengers on a train.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation has backed Brighton daily The Argus over its decision to publish and unpixelated still shot of one of the girls in print, and video images of both of them online.

The Argus had been subject to a complaint by the mother of one of the girls, who claimed her daughter had been unable to go to school after being identified and exposed to threats.

But IPSO rejected her claim on the ground that there was a clear public interest in reporting the girl’s potentially criminal activity.

The Argus had reported that the two girls had been filmed threatening to stab “a group of males” on a train, with one of the pair also threatening to rob one of them, while threats of violence had been to other passengers.

The article reported that the video had been posted on Facebook and widely shared, and included a response from a member of the public, as well as stating that British Transport Police was investigating the incident.

The mother, who was unnamed by IPSO, claimed that the article breached Clause 2 (Privacy) because it included a photograph of her daughter, a minor, which had been published without consent, as well as Clause 6 (Children) because her child had been pictured unpixelated.

Denying a breach of Code, The Argus said that the video had been taken in a public place by a member of the public concerned that a crime was being committed, adding the girls featured in the video had made their comments, including threats, openly and in front of other passengers.

It added that at on 14 December 2018, when the video was taken, the identity of the girls was not known, and it had checked with police twice – both prior to publishing the story online and publishing in print.

In these circumstances, it considered that there was a significant public interest in publishing the unpixelated images, in both the online and print articles, in order to assist in the identification of possible perpetrators of crime.

However, after receiving the complaint through IPSO, it promptly pixelated the girls’ faces in the video.

IPSO found the girl had engaged in what appeared to be threatening and abusive behaviour, which included threats of violence and robbery, in a public place and in full view and earshot of a number of members of the public, and therefore did not have any reasonable expectation of privacy.

The Committee considered that the article reported on a matter that was clearly related to the girl’s welfare – namely, her public behaviour and conduct, and the fact that she was engaging in alleged potentially criminal activity.

There was a clear public interest in reporting this potentially criminal activity, in that doing so contributed to an ongoing public debate around young people’s involvement in crime – given the threats which appeared to be made in the video.

IPSO further found that The Argus had given the required consideration to the public interest in publishing unpixelated images of the girl, while the girl’s identity was already known to a wide number of people due to the fact the unpixelated video had been widely circulated on Facebook and was in the public domain prior to publication.

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

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  • March 22, 2019 at 3:50 pm
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    perhaps parents should know a little more about what their nasty little darlings are really like before they seek absolution from IPSO. Well Done Argus.

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