Adjudication No. 1361 (adjudicated June 2007) [2007] APC 18

Adjudication No. 1361 (adjudicated June 2007)

The Press Council has upheld a complaint by Helen Robinson against The Herald Sun, Melbourne, in relation to articles published on 12 July and 13 July 2006.

The articles pertain to the killing of the complainant's husband (David Robinson) who had returned to his office at night with his son to use the photocopier. He was confronted by a man at the back of his office and was fatally shot in an ensuing argument.

In its first report on the shooting, in an 11 July article, the newspaper gave a brief factual account of the incident. In a 12 July article, headed Gangland links to lawyer, the newspaper reported that the complainant's late husband had "close links to underworld figures". The article also asserted that the deceased had been bankrupt and had "left a tangled web of broken-down companies when he was gunned down"; that his associates "included criminals"; and that he had "fallen out several years ago with a criminal seeking a huge financial bail-out to ward off an interstate drug lord". Towards the end of the article, there was a reference that "[d]espite Mr Robinson's past, police said they suspected he'd been killed by a disgruntled legal client".

The 13 July edition reported the arrest of a man over David Robinson's killing. A front-page article, which reported the arrest, recounted aspects of the deceased's past and, after stating that the police had said that the shooting "had no links to gangland crimes", went on to assert that the newspaper itself "has established links between Mr Robinson, a one-time criminal lawyer, and a criminal network operating in Melbourne". A page nine article, also in the 13 July edition, headlined Business deal rift: Slain lawyer link to crime figure, again mentioned the deceased's "links to members of a Melbourne crime network that specialised in fraud and money laundering". It referred to the claim by the police that "there was no evidence the dead lawyer was involved with 'any underworld figure'", but reiterated the deceased's links to a criminal network "despite the police claims".

Mrs Robinson complained that the articles breached Council principles that refer to accuracy; to honesty and fairness with respect for the privacy and sensibilities of individuals; to a need to distinguish fact from opinion; and to balance in published articles.

In its response the newspaper said it did not say Mr Robinson was himself engaged in any criminal or violent activity. The claim was that he was associated with, or linked to, people who have been engaged in such activity. This claim, said the newspaper, was substantiated by the newspaper's extensive investigation over the previous two years.

The Council is of the view that the articles of 12 and 13 July leave the impression that the killing was somehow linked to the deceased's "close links to underworld figures". This was despite a refutation of such a connection by the police.

The articles dealt with the shooting episode in a manner that reflected unfairly on the deceased and that failed adequately to respect the sensibilities of his family. When the police made it clear that the killing had no nexus to alleged criminal links, the newspaper should have refrained from continuing to assert that link. The newspaper breached the Council's principles in unjustifiably failing to distinguish between fact and unconfirmed reports in continuing to assert links repudiated by the police.