A man who claimed the Grimsby Telegraph identified his address when
he was arrested in a crackdown on suspected football hooligans has had
his complaint rejected by the Press Complaints Commission.
Mark
Balls said the Telegraph mentioned the name of his street in one
article while his house number could be seen in an accompanying
photograph. He also claimed information on the paper’s website would
have identified his full address so Balls complained under Clause 3,
privacy.
The newspaper told the PCC a reporter and photographer
had been invited to attend the police operation. It said the
combination of the text and photographs did not identify the
complainant, or his address and the house number in question could not
be read. The Telegraph’s editor removed the photographs from the
website and offered an apology for their use.
The PCC said
although possible, it would have been difficult for anyone to find the
complainant’s address and Balls had not personally been identified.
Related
Moreover
it said even if the address could be traced there was a large police
presence in full view of his neighbours without the paper publishing
the information.
It ruled that none of the complaints raised issues that breached Clause 3.
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