UNITED KINGDOM
Hold The Front Page
by David Sharman Published 24 Jun 2016
A claim that newspapers should not be allowed to report on the sexual abuse of children by a long-dead bishop has been rejected by the press watchdog.
Last year the Bishop of Chichester issued a former apology following the settlement of a civil claim against one of his predecessors, George Bell, who was alleged to have abused a young woman while leading the Diocese.
Marilyn Billingham wrote to the Independent Press Standards Organisation over the Chichester Observer’s coverage of the story, arguing that the press should only report historic allegations as fact in circumstances where a court has found this to be the case.
But IPSO rejected the complaint, saying the newspaper had been entitled to rely on the information provided by the Church in an official press release.
The Observer had reported Bell, pictured above left, had “abused a young victim while leader of the diocese”, and that this news would “come as a great shock to people who regarded him as a hero”.
In February, HTFP reported that the victim had spoken exclusively to Brighton daily The Argus seven decades on from her ordeal.
Ms Billingham claimed the Observer’s report had breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, stating it was inaccurate to report as fact that Bell had sexually abused a child, because he had not been found guilty in a court of law of such offences and there was no further evidence to corroborate the allegations.
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