The Press Complaints Commission has decided not to uphold a complaint made against The Daily Telegraph for publishing photographs of Vicky Pryce in prison.
The decision comes a day after the PCC made a similar ruling over complaints made about the publication of photographs of Pryce’s ex-husband and former minister Chris Huhne.
Pryce’s daughters, Georgia and Alexandra, complained to the PCC that the pictures, published nline and in print, breached Clauses 3 (privacy) and 4 (harassment) of the Editors’ Code of Practice.
Publication of the photograph in print, on 21 March this year, came after the family issued a statement through the PCC to editors asking them to stop photographers from taking pictures of their mother.
The picture published by the Telegragh showed Pryce in East Sutton Park prison after she was jailed for perverting the course of justice.
The girls claimed that the fact the newspaper published the images after they had sent an advisory notice was harassment.
But the paper denied the breach, claiming an agency photographer had taken the picture before the notice was given. The paper then also published it online before receiving the note.
It denied Pryce’s privacy had been breached, pointing out that the photograph had been taken from outside of the prison, from a public viewpoint.
The PCC acknowledged that Pryce’s daughters felt the newspaper was “trying to humiliate” their mother, but ruled that her privacy had not been breached. It pointed out that the picture had been taken in a public place and that no “intrinsically private” information had been revealed.
It also ruled out harassment, saying that the agency photographer had not been aware of any notice from the daughters when they had taken the picture.
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