The publishers of the Evening Herald, Plymouth, have lost a Crown Court appeal against a conviction earlier this year for publishing a photograph of a 15-year-old which revealed his identity.
The newspaper’s lawyers had challenged evidence given by two witnesses in January to a district judge that they had identified the boy even though his face had been partially blacked out. At the earlier hearing, the publishers were fined £1,500 with costs.
At the appeal, the paper maintained it had acted within industry standards by using black bars across the boy’s face to protect his anonymity.
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But Judge Michael Roach, while accepting that Herald editor Alan Qualtrough was a responsible editor who had been acting in the best interests of his newspaper, upheld the conviction.
The paper was ordered to pay a further £150 court costs.
Qualtrough said the publishers would not appeal to a higher court.
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