O’Donoghue report complaint upheld
In its ruling, the ombudsman’s office said the Irish Sunday Mirror breached Principal 1 (truth and accuracy) in relation to the headline over a story about Mr O’Donoghue’s application for planning permission for a family home.
And it was also stated as unusual that the article was written by the newspaper’s crime correspondent.
Robert Holohan, 11, disappeared from his home in Ballyedmond near Midleton in Co Cork on January 4, 2005. His body was found eight days later wrapped in black refuse sacks and dumped near Inch Strand.
Wayne O’Donoghue confessed to the killing four days later and was subsequently charged with the boy’s murder.
He was acquitted by a jury after a 10-day trial and because he had admitted manslaughter, he was sentenced to four years in jail.
He was released in January 2008 after serving three years.
Mr O’Donoghue complained about a news report published in the Irish Sunday Mirror on May 4, 2008, headlined “Wayne’s Dad uses Robert’s killing to get dream home” and “Boy’s death exploited to help killer’s family land home deal”. The newspaper based its story on material contained in the planning file held by Cork County Council, which is available to the public.
In a letter in the file, Mr O’Donoghue asked for permission to be granted in light of the exceptional circumstances following his son’s conviction.
He complained that the headlines were in breach of Principle 1 (truth and accuracy) and Principle 4 (respect for rights of the code of practice), and he argued that the report itself was in breach of Principle 3 (privacy).
The newspaper rejected all the claims and stated that the report was fair and honest and that the matters disclosed were matters of public record, and it said Mr O’Donoghue had not alleged any of the facts in the report were wrong.
In its ruling, the Press Ombudsman said the prejudicial implications of the headlines, and in particular the use of the term “exploited” breached Principle 1.
“The significance of the breach is underlined by the fact that the headlines account for substantially more than half of the total amount of space devoted to text (excluding photographs) in the report,” the ruling said.
The ombudsman found no evidence of a breach of Principle 4 or Principle 5 because the information in the report is comprised of facts which form part of the public report.
