A mother whose daughter had sex with a schoolboy has had her complaint about a regional daily’s coverage of the case rejected by the press watchdog.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation has thrown out a complaint by Llinos Williams, whose daughter Rebecca Williams appeared on the front page of the North Wales Daily Post after she admitted two offences of sexual activity with a boy of 15 and abusing a position of trust.

In her complaint, Ms Williams claimed it was inaccurate for the Daily Post to report her daughter’s present age because she was younger when the offences were committed.

However, IPSO found this aspect of the newspaper’s coverage to be immaterial given that the nature of Williams’s offences had been accurately reported.

The Post splashed on the court case

Complaining under Clause 1 (Accuracy) and Clause 3 (Harassment) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, Ms Williams, accepted that her daughter was an adult when offences were committed but claimed it was inaccurate to report her present age.

She added both she and her daughter had received multiple unwanted approaches from journalists at their home, claiming a police officer had told her someone who approached her was a journalist pretending to be a courier.

Ms Williams further alleged another individual had parked nearby her home, taking photographs and had been “aggressive” when she requested that they leave.

She said the police had completed “a trace” on the vehicle’s registration number and confirmed that this individual was a journalist.

In response, the Daily Post said the court heard her daughter’s age when she had committed the offences in question and provided a copy of the reporter’s contemporaneous notes to demonstrate this.

It added her specific age was insignificant because she had legally been an adult when she committed the offences against the child, further noting that the year of the offences was omitted in order to minimise the risk of the victim being identified.

The Daily Post rejected claims that the allegations about the behaviour of journalists related to any of its staff or individuals working on its behalf.

While there was a dispute between the parties as to the daughter’s age when she committed the offences, IPSO did not consider the defendant’s exact age to be material because the nature of the offences had been accurately reported, namely that she had been an adult who held a position of trust when the offences had been committed.

It further found Ms Williams had not provided any information which suggested that the individuals who had spoken with her at her home represented the Daily Post or had identified themselves as representing the paper.

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