Reports on model's death breached code

A COMPLAINT by the mother of model Katy French about coverage of her daughter's death has been upheld by the Press Council.

The council found against the Irish Mail on Sundayfor an article it published about the model, who died in December. The Mail on Sundayclaimed it had the first "definitive" account of how she died, alleging she "suffered up to six heart attacks after eight hours of taking cocaine and drinking champagne and Red Bull".

Janet French brought a number of complaints to Press Ombudsman Prof John Horgan.

Prof Horgan held the "definitive" account which was published "as fact and without attribution" was a breach of principle 2.1 of the code of practice for newspapers. This states that "comment, conjecture, rumour and unconfirmed reports shall not be reported as if they were fact". He did acknowledge the newspaper had made "considerable efforts" to find out the circumstances surrounding Ms French's death.

He said there was "insufficient evidence" to back up Mrs French's claim that the article was in breach of principle 1:1 of the code - which states newspapers "shall strive at all times for truth and accuracy".

The council upheld his view that publication of unconfirmed reports on Ms French's death breached principle 5.3, which states that, in publishing information about dead people, "the feelings of grieving families should be taken into account".

The newspaper appealed Prof Horgan's ruling to the Press Council, the final arbiter in relation to complaints made to the ombudsman's office. The Mail on Sundayheld its account was based on a reliable Garda source.

The Press Council, which contains representatives from the newspaper industry but has a lay majority, upheld the ombudsman's decision. It stated "when a news story is based on unofficial sources which cannot be named and whose accounts have not been, or cannot be verified, the story cannot be reported as established fact, and the basis for it must be made clear from the outset".

A previous complaint by her mother to the Irish Daily Starthat linked Ms French's death to cocaine fatalities was rejected on the basis that the late model had acknowledged taking cocaine in the past.

The Press Ombudsman, which is a self-regulating body of the newspaper industry, has no power of sanction other than to compel a newspaper to publish its ruling.

The detailed judgment was published at the weekend in the Mail on Sunday.