The publishers of the Evening Herald, Plymouth, have lost a Crown Court appeal against a conviction earlier this year for publishing a photograph of a 15-year-old which revealed his identity.
The newspaper’s lawyers had challenged evidence given by two witnesses in January to a district judge that they had identified the boy even though his face had been partially blacked out. At the earlier hearing, the publishers were fined £1,500 with costs.
At the appeal, the paper maintained it had acted within industry standards by using black bars across the boy’s face to protect his anonymity.
But Judge Michael Roach, while accepting that Herald editor Alan Qualtrough was a responsible editor who had been acting in the best interests of his newspaper, upheld the conviction.
The paper was ordered to pay a further £150 court costs.
Qualtrough said the publishers would not appeal to a higher court.
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