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File photo: John McAreavey (centre right) and Mark Harte (centre left), brother of Michaela McAreavey PA Wire/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Court
Irish Daily Mail to pay damages over McAreavey photo
The Irish Daily Mail published a photograph of John McAreavey interspersed with CCTV stills of a German couple arguing.
THE IRISH DAILY Mail has agreed to pay damages and legal costs over the publication of photographs, including one of John McAreavey, during the trial of two men accused of murdering his wife Michaela.
Paul Tweed of Johnsons Solicitors said that the Irish Daily Mail’s publication of a photograph of his client John McAreavey, which was interspersed within a series of CCTV stills of a German couple arguing, “could not have been published at a more difficult and sensitive time while criminal proceedings had been ongoing in Mauritius”.
Although John is satisfied with this categoric and comprehensive apology before the Court this morning, together with the payment of appropriate damages and his legal costs, the article should not have been published in the first place.
He said that John “remains very grateful for the support he has received from the media”, and:
he hopes that this will continue with a view to ensuring that absolutely no stone is left unturned in bringing those responsible for Michaela’s murder to justice.
Michaela McAreavey was murdered while on honeymoon with her husband John in January 2011. Two former employees of the former Legends (now Lux) Hotel, where she was found dead, were found not guilty of her murder following a trial last summer.
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