Julie Goodfellow complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that the conduct of a reporter acting on behalf of dailymail.co.uk breached Clause 2 (Privacy) and Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock) of the Editors’ Code of Practice.
The complaint was upheld, and IPSO required dailymail.co.uk to publish this adjudication to remedy the breach of the Code.
Following the death of the complainant’s son’s partner, a reporter representing the publication made an approach to the complainant’s property in which he entered her porch. The complainant said this constituted entering her home without consent.
In IPSO’s view, entering the complainant’s porch through an external front door clearly constituted intruding into a private area of her home. IPSO considered that the reporter’s entry through the complainant’s front door and into the porch area represented an unjustified intrusion into the complainant’s home. This was a breach of Clause 2.
Furthermore, IPSO did not consider that the decision to open and enter the complainant’s front door, and enter her porch, constituted a sympathetic or discreet approach, as required at a time of grief and shock. This was a breach of Clause 4.
