Our article, “The Acton Spring? How unrest in Syria spilled over into the respectable streets of West London” (4 November 2011) referred to a “classified 2008 cable from the then-US chargé d’affaires to Damascus released by Wikileaks this year”. The cable named Dr Fawaz Akhras as a suspected avenue used by the Syrian President Bashar [...]
Our article,”Inside the ‘basket case’:the film that will shock football”(29 October 2011) was a feature on a fly-on -the wall documentary film,The Four Year Plan,which has just been released about the recent turbulent history of Queens Park Rangers FC. In it we mentioned an allegation made in the film by the former QPR Chairman, Gianni [...]
Our article “Chelsea hit by Essien blow on first day back” (9 July 2011) suggested that the Chelsea’s then Medical Director, Dr Bryan English, had been sacked by the club because his medical staff failed correctly to diagnose injuries to key players. We now accept that these allegations were untrue and apologise to Dr English [...]
In our article, ‘The scone of destiny’ (11 September 2011) we incorrectly stated that Tilly Mint Bakery in Truro had closed. It has not closed and continues in business as usual . We apologize for this error. Link Report an error
So the Johann Hari saga has come to something of a conclusion. He apologized and will take a leave from the Independent from now until 2012. From his apology: I did two wrong and stupid things. The first concerns some people I interviewed over the years. When I recorded and typed up any conversation, I [...]
In our article “Man cleared of ‘sex in his sleep’ rape charge” (5 July 2011) we stated that Stephen Lee Davies had been acquitted of rape after arguing that he had been suffering from sexsomnia. We now understand that Mr Davies’s defence was that he did not commit the alleged offence. Although the court heard [...]
The picture caption accompanying ‘ How first a marriage then a political career were ended’ (22 January 2011) incorrectly identified the plain-clothes policeman appearing in the picture between Mr Johnson and his wife, as DC Paul Rice, who it was alleged had an affair with Mrs Johnson. In fact the picture was of Sergeant Paul [...]
In an item in “The Week in Arts” published on 25 June 2011 we incorrectly stated that the critic Ruth Leon had written a review for her husband Sheridan Morley of a play which she had not seen. We are told, and accept, that while she did indeed file the review mentioned for her husband, [...]
Two articles published on the 7th and 9th April 2010 concerned the discovery at Liverpool John Lennon Airport that Willi Jarant, aged 91, had died prior to check-in for a flight to Germany and the subsequent arrest of his widow, Gitta Jarant and step-daughter, Anke Anusic. The first article was headed “Women attempt to get [...]
An article on 18 April referred to the recent death of Leslie Phillips’ wife, Angela Scoular, stating that she had died alone. We have now been informed that this is incorrect, and we apologise to Mr Phillips and his family for any distress caused. Link Report an error
In an essay about popular unrest in the Arab world headed:A long time coming (15 April) we referred to an order said to have been given by HRH Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud on 11 March this year. We said that Prince Nayef, the Saudi minister of the interior, ordered security forces to show [...]
An article on 13 March stated that Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz were wrestled to the ground and handcuffed when they were arrested as part of the SFO investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing. We did not intend to suggest that the Tchenguiz brothers resisted arrest and now accept that they were not wrestled to the [...]
On 10 February, we reported from a news agency source that Claudia Adusei, 20, from London, died after buttock enhancement treatment in Philadelphia. The agency had been misinformed that the girl was Claudia Adusei, when it was, in fact, Claudia Aderotimi who died. We apologise for any distress caused to the families concerned. Link Report [...]
On 31 July 2010 an article headlined "A tour of the jail within a jail that houses Britain's most dangerous convicts" about the High Security Unit at Belmarsh Prison wrongly suggested that Garikoitz Ibarlucea Murua was amongst those held in that unit. In fact Mr Ibarlucea was only ever remanded at Wandsworth prison as a [...]
In our article, ‘Reuters rocked by scandal over staff’s undisclosed shareholdings’ (19 October 2010) we alleged that Margaret Doyle, a financial journalist, had breached Reuters’ internal rules on share ownership and dealing. This was not true. She had observed the rules at all times, a fact confirmed by Reuters. We apologise to Ms Doyle for [...]
In yesterday’s Independent, Ian Herbert attributed quotes to the ITV football analyst Andy Townsend which suggested that he had made sexist comments on Twitter as part of the Andy Gray/Richard Keys story. Those quotes originated from a spoof Twitter account. We apologise for any embarrassment caused to Mr Townsend, who has no connection to the [...]
Writing headlines is an art – and a challenge. Nothing we do in the print trade comes in for more criticism. Headlines are believed to typify everything that has always been wrong with journalism – brash, stupid, shameless, addicted to forceful expression at the expense of factual accuracy and intellectual discrimination. It's all true, of [...]
Our article "London's 'Mr Party' defies court to carry on carousing" of 19 December 2010 stated that Mr Edward Davenport has hired out his house on at least one occasion since an injunction forbidding such use of the premises was enforced in July. We accept that it is untrue that Mr Edward Davenport has hired [...]
The picture above right illustrated a front page story about the death of the Nazi war criminal, Samuel Kunz, on 23 November. We have since been told that the image is not, in fact, that of Samuel Kunz, but the Croatian actor Ljubomir Jurkovic. We are happy to make the position clear and apologise to [...]
On 21 July 2010 we published an article about terrorism in the UK which included photographs of eight men with the caption: "Liquid bomb plot – 2006". We wish to make it clear that one of those pictured, Donald Stewart-Whyte, right, was acquitted of all terrorism-related charges. We apologise for any distress caused by the [...]
The Independent (U.K.) is taking a lot of heat, and deservedly so, after making a major front page error this week. Here's the offending page, via the Guardian: The man in the image is reportedly Ljubomir Jurkovic. Here's how Croatian Times described the different between him and the man the Independent was talking about: Although [...]
An item in Chris McGrath's column, 'Vested interests of sport's rulers will turn turf into wasteland' (30 October 2010), commented on Paul Roy's position as chairman of the British Horseracing Authority, a member of the Horseracing Betting Levy Board and a partner of NewSmith Asset Management LLP, in the context of his company's investment in [...]
On 12 November 2008 we published an article about the death of Peter Connolly, who was also known as Baby P. It wrongly alleged that Sylvia Henry, who is a social work Team Manager employed by Haringey Council, had been one of the social workers who had culpably failed to protect Baby P from his [...]
Our article, 'Warring tigers,escaping birds, marauding snakes: it's chaos at London Zoo' (16 October 2010) referred to a report following an informal zoo inspection which took place in July 2009 . The title suggested that the matters were current not historical, and so was misleading as many of the issues highlighted in the report had [...]
In the graphic accompanying today's article, 'Police to reopen phone hacking investigation as more witnesses emerge' (9 September 2010), we wrongly stated that Les Hinton had died in 2009. We are aware that he is very much alive and is the CEO of Dow Jones Company Inc. We regret our error and apologise to him. [...]
