Complainant Name:
A woman

Clauses Noted: 1

Publication: Warwick Courier

Complaint:

A woman complained that an article about the decision to overturn her son’s exclusion from Myton School had stated as fact that he had held a BB gun to another pupil’s head. In fact, this was an allegation; an independent appeal panel had decided to reinstate him.

Resolution:

The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published a clarification in the following terms:

Myton School exclusion – a clarification

On May 23, we reported that a boy who had been excluded from Myton School had held a BB gun, an imitation firearm, to another pupil’s head.

We have been asked to point out that this accusation formed a major part of the appeal hearing to review the boy’s permanent exclusion, and that the decision of the appeal panel to reinstate him was in large measure due to the unreliability of evidence behind that accusation. We apologise for not making it clear that this incident was an allegation and not a confirmed fact as our article implied.

Report: 77