Saturday, March 08, 2008

Daily Mail Object Lesson: Outing a Sex Complainant?


One advantage of taking son to have a haircut is that current Mail and Express are proffered in the waiting area. Celebrity barber asked permission to do what the boy wants, immediately given. As some other dad said he's the one that's going to have to walk round with it. And spookily he's actually choosing to have the cut that I'd always resisted as a youth myself. Aka "short back and sides". Other dad also explains how his son was asking after how he got his widow's vee styled ...

Anyways, in the Mail we find out all about this story of a Cambridge post-grad with glittering prizes behind him - along with a "nine-month hell" that he says Nietzsche-like has "made him stronger".

Rather paradoxical of the public spirited Mail to put this guy’s name, CV and various photos - one clearly caned - looking like a shady scrote and all that, across an early double page spread. Given that his identity should they claim be protected?

The Mail print various pictures. One with the guy drunken, with a blonde whom the paper edition gallantly identifies as unconnected, though the website does not. Scrolling down one with his rowing team with a lady coxswain - not remotely answering the description. Plus another with rowing colleagues at a bit of a do.

Is the girl in that last picture, a recent Trinity College eight's coxswain I'd wager - and someone that the Mail pointedly DO NOT disassociate from the story - the sexual assault (NB not rape) complainant with the famous celebrity parent perchance?

Must agree with the commenter who suggests that given the low level of convictions in such cases it is to be hoped that the story does not discourage complaints. If I'm right about the picture the complainant should sue the pants off the Mail for deliberately leading to her identification in this way. And yes, I am aware that I'm drawing attention to the issue.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Doesn't do much good for the sport of rowing - that 2/3 of the posted images come from his boat club.