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Daily Mail apology for ‘over zealous’ reporter

By Press Gazette

The Daily Mail has apologised for the ‘over-zealous’actions of a reporter covering a story which suggested a Heathrow body scanner was used inappropriately on a female airport worker.

The Press Complaints Commission reports today that it has resolved a complaint by brought by airport worker Jo Margetson over a Daily Mail report of an alleged incident involving ‘lewd comments’and a body scanner.

Margetson complained to the PCC over a Daily Mail report which she said contained inaccuracies.

According to the PCC she said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments.

She said the article was also an invasion of her private life because of the level of detail it contained and complained that a reporter from the newspaper had harassed her by persisting in his attempts to contact her after she had asked him to stop.

The complaint was resolved after the Mail agreed to remove two articles from its online archive.

An editorial executives wrote personally to Margetson to apologise for the distress that had been caused by the approach of the reporter, who he agreed had been “over-zealous” and it has also made an ‘ex-gratia’payment to her.

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In August, airport security guard Jonathan Laker filed a libel writ against The Sun over as story headlined: ‘Scanner Glamour Ding-Dong! Cops quiz airport X-ray man who ogled colleague’s boobs.”

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