A man who was wrongly identified by The Sun Sunday as Fred West’s son has received an out-of-court settlement from the newspaper.
The story, which ran on the front page last November, correctly named 33-year-old Dean Barry as the serial killer’s “love child” but accidently ran a picture of Barry’s half brother Neil Bachi instead under a caption which was captioned 'Dean aged 7'.
Law firm Brabners Chaffe Street, which acted for Bachi, said it had won unspecified damages and an apology from The Sun.
Partner Paul Lunt, who led the case, said: “This is a matter that has caused an enormous amount of upset and distress to our client. Cases involving improper identification are all too common and this was an example of the devastation that can be caused to someone’s life when they are wrongly associated with a story. Our client is very pleased with the apology and the terms of settlement provided by The Sun on Sunday, which we hope will assist our client in bringing the whole episode to a close.”
The Sun’s splash revealed how Barry had discovered the true identity of his father only after his mother had seen West on television following his arrest in 1995.
West took his own life that same year while awaiting trial for the murders of 11 women. His wife Rosemary was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty on ten murder charges.
The apology appeared on page two of today's Sun and said: "On 4 November 2012 we published an interview with Dean Barry under the headline 'I'm Fred West's Love Child'. We mistakenly illustrated the article with a picture captioned 'Dean aged 7' using a photograph of Dean's brother Nr Neil Bachi. We did not intend to suggest that Mr Bachie is related to Fred West and we apologise to Mr Bachi for the embarrassment caused."
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