IPSO censures British journalist Andrew Drummond over Brian Goudie article in 'The Scottish Daily Record'.

London, 8th January 2015

The UK Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which was previously the Press Complaints Commission ( PCC) has upheld a complaint filed by Brian Goudie in relation to an article written by British journalist Andrew Drummond in 'The Scottish Daily Record' newspaper last year.

The Scottish Daily Record logo

IPSO found that the article contained a 'significant' inaccuracy,

Following the complaint by Goudie, IPSO investigated claims that Drummond had submitted an article to the publication that Goudie in his complaint alleged had breached the Editor's Code of Practice, a regulatory framework that lays out the requirement for newspapers and journalists to accurately report news stories.

The main complaint was that Drummond had stated Goudie had been charged with fraud in Scotland, which was proven to be a false accusation.

In finding that the article was inaccurate the IPSO complaints committee found as follows:

'The Committee first considered the complainant’s concern that, in inaccurately stating that he had been charged with an offence of fraud in Scotland, the newspaper had breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, which states that “the press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information”, and that “a significant inaccuracy once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence”. The Committee considered that, given the availability of a letter from the Crown Office in support of the complainant’s position, this error constituted a failure to take care not to publish inaccurate information in breach of Clause 1 (i), and that the inaccuracy was significant so as to merit a correction in line with the terms of Clause 1 (ii). '

Goudie said today:

' I would like to thank the Independent Press Standards Organisation for their diligence in investigating this matter.

Whilst I have filed cases in Court, it is in my view substantially more appropriate that Drummond be censured by his peers.

This decision by IPSO today merely serves to confirm what I have said all along which is that Andrew Drummond does not write accurately then refuses to correct his errors'.

Lawyers for Goudie in Bangkok today said they would now consider whether or not the editor of the Scottish Daily Record and Drummond could be jointly prosecuted under the provisions of Thailand's tough Computer Crimes Act.

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