November 2, 2007 – 8:00 am
We have, since August of last year, been cataloging the apologies offered to Morien Jones, a UK man who was wrongly and hurtfully portrayed in a series of media reports back in 2006.
Jones has managed to extract apologies from a large number of UK media outlets, and they keep coming. We salute his dedication to clearing his name, and condemn the fact that, a year and a half later, he still has to spend his time demanding what should have been freely and promptly offered a long time ago. The latest apology is below. Read all the rest and some background right here.
In May 2006, Sky News published an article entitled “She Who Bares Wins”, based on news agency copy. The article stated that Mr Morien Jones had videotaped his neighbour, Ms Lynette Burgess, sunbathing naked in her garden.
In fact film of a naked Ms Burgess was taken by a builder who had been recording renovations to Mr Jones’ house, and showed Ms Burgess while she was on Mr Jones’ property, walking along the shared drive and in front of his house.
No film was taken of Ms Burgess on her own property.
Mr Jones had called the police because he was concerned about the effects Ms Burgess’ actions were having on his three young children.
We apologise for any misleading impression the article may have given of Mr Jones. Link
The apologies keep rolling in for Morien Jones. This story goes back to last summer. Some newspapers continue to get the story wrong, while others are just getting around to correcting their reports from last year. Below are the latest installments. Read the previous ones by starting here.
FURTHER to our article on May 26 2006 about Lynett Burgess’s acquittal for indecent exposure, we have been asked to make clear her neighbour Morien Jones did not film Ms Burgess in her garden. The video shown in court was shot by Mr Jones’s builder as she walked naked in front of Mr Jones’s house.
We apologise to Mr Jones for any embarrassment caused. Link
On May 25 2006 we reported that Lynett Burgess has been cleared of indecent exposure for sunbathing nude in her garden. We stated that her neighbour, Mr Jones, had taken a video of her in her garden which was given to the police. We have been asked to make clear that Mr Jones’s builder in fact took the pictures when Ms Burgess was on Mr Jones’s drive.
In an article published on 18th April (‘Naked’ nurse’s living hell) we incorrectly reported that a builder had filmed Lyneth Burgess sunbathing naked in her own garden and that her neighbours, Morien and Nia Jones, reported her to police for this. In fact the builder’s film, taken on police advice, showed Ms Burgess walking naked on the driveway at the front of the Jones’ property, not on her own property. We apologise for any misleading impression given of Mr Jones and his family.
Our agency-based report on the unsuccessful prosecution of Lynette Burgess for indecent exposure (25 May) suggested that she had been filmed sunbathing naked in her garden by a neighbour, Morien Jones. In fact the film, taken on police advice by Mr Jones’s builder in the context of possible court proceedings, showed Ms Burgess walking naked on the driveway at the front of Mr Jones’s property.
We apologise to Mr Jones for any embarrassment caused by the misunderstanding. Link
It’s been a while since we saw an apology for Morien Jones, a UK man who was the subject of a string of hurtful and incorrect articles in the British press. Well, thanks to a recent court decision related to the story, we have two more to add. Read the others and get the background here.
ON 25 and 26 May 2006 we published articles concerning the unsuccessful prosecution of Lynett Burgess for indecent exposure. The articles suggested that her neighbour Mr Jones had filmed her sunbathing naked in her garden. In fact, Ms Burgess was filmed on behalf of Mr Jones by his builder on police advice. Ms Burgess was filmed walking naked on the driveway in front of Mr Jones’s house and not in her own garden. We apologise to Mr Jones for the error and for any misleading impression given of Mr Jones. Link
In the article below we incorrectly accused Morien Jones of videotaping his neighbour whilst she sunbathed naked in her back garden and reporting her to the police. In fact, Mr Jones’ neighbour was filmed on police advice in the context of a possible court action against her whilst she was walking naked on his driveway. We apologise to Mr Jones for our error. Link
September 15, 2006 – 8:01 am
We’ve been cataloging the apologies offered to Morien Jones by UK newspapers (read one of the apologies for some background), and now there are a few more to add to the pile. Actually, a lot more. We can’t recall another recent UK story that caused so many apologies. Read the previous apology from the Yorkshire Post, and this one from The Independent. And now for the rest:
- BBC apology (at end of article)
- Times (UK) apology and Press Complaints Commission decision
- Daily Mail apology
- News and Star apology
- The Daily Telegraph also issued a written apology to Mr. Jones, but it has not published anything publicly. (We’ve removed the Telegraph apology and a BBC letter of apology from this site until Mr. Jones gives us the okay to put them back up.)
- We’re told more are in the works…
September 4, 2006 – 8:00 am
The Yorkshire Post made a similar error — and apology and payment — a couple of weeks ago.
In an article on 26 May 2006 (”I’m looking forward to a naked summer”) about the unsuccessful prosecution of Lynett Burgess for indecent exposure, we reported that her neighbour, Morien Jones, had rushed to video her sunbathing naked in her back garden and commented that one might think it should have been him, rather than Ms Burgess, who was prosecuted. In fact, the film, which was taken by Mr Jones’s builder on police advice, showed her walking naked not on her own property but in front of Mr Jones’s house, on the driveway she shared with him.
We apologise to Mr Jones for the distress and embarrassment caused to him by any misleading impression that has been given. We have agreed to pay him damages and his legal costs. Link
August 14, 2006 – 8:00 am
A feature article (Yorkshire Post, 1 June 2006 and on www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk) entitled “Nudes and Prudes – time we face the naked truth” reported that Morien Jones had fimed his neighbour, Lynette Burgess, while she was sunbathing naked in her back garden, and that he had reported this to the police, resulting in Ms Burgess’ prosecution for indecent exposure (of which she was subsequently acquitted). Our article, which
was based on an agency report, suggested that Mr Jones was a voyeur. In fact, Ms Burgess was filmed because she decided to walk naked on Mr
Jones’ driveway at the front of his house. She was not filmed on her own property, and it was not even Mr Jones who did the filming. The filming took place as part of a process of gathering evidence against Ms Burgess in the context of a possible court action against her for ongoing acts of harassment, an exercise which was carred out on police advice. We apologise unreservedly to Mr Jones for the distress and embarrassment caused to him by our publication of these false allegations. As a mark of our regret we have agreed to pay him damages and his legal costs.
