Adjudication No. 147 (October 1982) [1982] APC 27

ADJUDICATION No. 147 (October 1982)

The Australian Press Council has received a complaint (3 June 1982) from the NSW Public Solicitor about an article in the Sunday Telegraph on 9 May 1982, concerning former football star John Ryan.

Mr Ryan died of a heart attack in his Lindfield home while awaiting trial on five charges alleging assault and robbery of TAB agencies.

The article was generally sympathetic to Mr Ryan and he was presented as a man destroyed by compulsive gambling.

The Public Solicitor complains that the article left the impression that Mr Ryan was guilty of the charges.

In fact, the article went further -- it quotes a friend as accepting that Mr Ryan made raids on TAB agencies.

The Public Solicitor also complains that the article does not mention that Mr Ryan had pleaded not guilty at the committal hearing in North Sydney Court.

This is a serious omission.

The newspaper article left no doubt that Mr Ryan had robbed TAB agencies, charges which had not been proved against him, and which were to be vigorously defended.

The newspaper is censured.