Fahy and the News of the World

The Press Ombudsman has decided to uphold a complaint by Mr Keith Fahy that some of the information about him in an article in the News of the World was in breach of Principle 5 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals by failing to respect his right to privacy, but has decided not to uphold a number of other complaints made about the same article.

Mr Fahy complained through his solicitors that the article concerned, published on 31 January 2010, was in breach of his right to privacy in that it disclosed details relating to his place of work, including his position in a named company, and the address of the company. The newspaper argued that it had not breached his privacy because his identity would have been known to many of his employer’s customers.

Although the complainant’s identity, and other information about him, was widely published as the result of his partial identification in a court case, relatively few members of the public would have been aware of the details of his employment or his position in that employment, the publication of which could expose him to further unwelcome and unnecessary attention and potential intrusion. In the circumstances, the publication of this information was a breach of Principle 5 and the complaint is in that respect upheld.

Other information in the article about which Mr Fahy complained – information about his relationship with his fiancée, about their wedding plans (which were not specified in any detail), and about the colour and make of his car - did not represent a breach of Principle 5 because it was not unreasonable to publish such information in the immediate context of a high-profile criminal trial during the course of which the complainant was partially identified. For this reason these complaints are not upheld.

22 June 2010

Both The News of the World and Mr Fahy appealed the decision of the Press Ombudsman to the Press Council of Ireland.