There is a shortage of suitable adjectives to describe the horror of the events in Dunblane on Wednesday morning.

The Press Complaints Commission joins with Parliamentarians, Church and community leader sin offering the very deepest sympathy of all its members to those mourning the innocent victims of this inexplicable slaughter of children.

The press has a legitimate role to play in relaying both information about these shocking events to an audience nationwide and the unanimous sympathy of the British people to all those grieving.

As ever, the Commission appreciates there is a fine line to be drawn between public ineterst and private suffering.

The Commission has received no formal complaints about the behaviour of print journalists in this matter. Nevertheless, in view of the special circumstances I would like to remind all editors that they and their journalists (including freelancers) throughout the UK are bound by Clauses 4 (Privacy), 8 (Harassment), 10 (Intrusion into grief or shock) and 12 (Interviewing or photographing children) of the newspaper and magazine publishing industry’s Code of Practice.

In particular, Clause 10, with my own emphasis added here, states that ‘in cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries should be carried out and approaches made with sympathy and discretion.’

I would ask all editors to remind those responsible to them about the terms of this Clause, and to be especially careful about respecting it when dealing with the unique and horrible events in Dunblane.