It ruled that The Sun did not breach Clause 3 (Privacy) and Clause 4 (Harassment) of the Editors' Code of Practice in the course of investigating a story for possible publication about the couple.
The newspaper had contacted Mr Lineker's agent regarding a claim that Mr Lineker's announcement that he was leaving Twitter had been prompted by an allegation about his private life. Representatives of the newspaper contacted relatives and neighbours of the couple, and others, before deciding not to proceed with publication.
The Linekers denied the allegation and did not accept that there was any possible public interest in investigating or publishing it, even had it been true. They said that Mr Lineker's agent had made clear that neither he nor his client would comment, and argued that the newspaper's decision to disregard requests to stop contacting third parties about the matter constituted harassment. They further contended that the disclosure of the allegation to third parties amounted to a breach of their privacy.
The Sun did not accept any breach of the Code. Mr Lineker's decision to leave Twitter was a matter of interest to its readers, which had caused comment elsewhere; it was entitled to investigate his reasons. It denied that it had harassed anyone or intruded into the couple's privacy.
The Commission ruled that the newspaper's enquiries into the allegation did not raise a breach of Clause 3 (Privacy). While the allegation was of a personal nature, the Commission "was reluctant to restrict the freedom of journalists to conduct enquiries undertaken in order to investigate the veracity of an allegation and to assess whether a sufficient public interest justified publication." The Commission also concluded that the activity of the newspaper's representatives did not raise a breach of Clause 4 (Harassment). It noted that the complainants had not been repeatedly approached by the newspaper's journalists. Nonetheless, it emphasised that "its decision would not constrain its consideration of a future complaint, should a story about the allegation be published, either by The Sun or by another publication".
Commenting on this decision Charlotte Dewar, Director of Complaints and Pre-publication Services, said "The Commission acknowledged that it can be a distressing experience to be the subject of journalistic inquiries, but it is reluctant to restrict the freedom of journalists to engage in standard newsgathering activities. On this occasion, the Commission decided that the newspaper had stayed on the right side of the line and did not uphold the complaint."
The adjudication can be read in full here.
