Adjudication No. 1051 (September 1999) [1999] APC 45

ADJUDICATION No. 1051 (September 1999)

The Press Council has upheld complaints by David Foster and Lesley Greagg concerning the content of an article headed "Man Died in Blazing Room" published in the early edition of the Herald Sun, Melbourne, of 30 June 1999.

The report contained relevant details of the fire, and then went on to record how seven years earlier the deceased, Timothy Sephton, a former barrister, had pleaded guilty to a drink driving charge and that he had been disciplined by the Victorian Bar Council. It was these two references that drew criticism from the complainants.

It was contended that the information was irrelevant to the story, tasteless, and in breach of a Press Council principle stating that publications should "respect ... the privacy and sensibilities of individuals".

In its reply the newspaper asserted that it was "not our intention to offend relatives and friends of the deceased" and that the reference complained of were made "because those investigating the fire were at the time following a particular line of inquiry into the cause of the fire". But this was not mentioned in the story.

The Press Council agrees with the complainants and is of the view that the items critical of Mr Sephton were remote in time and bore no ,obvious relevance to the story. They should not have been published.