Naming the driver in the Villa fan death case
Naming a suspect during a police investigation before charges are brought is a fairly unusual move.
The reasons for the Birmingham Mail's action today - see link - are worth airing for chair watchers.
As those who have followed the death of Villa fan Christopher Priest death will know, The Sun on Monday published an incorrect story. Under the headline 'MURDER AT THE MATCH - Villa fan run down by rival' it reported speculation that the car involved was "said to be driven by a Birmingham fan".
This was officially denied by police, who said fan rivalries were not involved. But rumours have persisted, partly as a result of The Sun's reckless report. In some parts of the city, tensions were running high, and so I believed certain facts needed spelling out.
Our full story today tells how Blues fans and a Villa fan were in the same car and had been driving around after the match together. They were driving away from an incident when the collision happened. The collision is not thought to have been intentional. It was certainly nothing to do with football rivalry. Read the full link above for more detail.
Naming the driver and confirming the Blues/Villa fans in the same car came after a full Friday of chats with senior sources and lawyers, but was deemed by me to be sensible in putting rumours to rest.
It also named the driver in an environment of accuracy, with the police warned it was going to happen and therefore able to keep an eye on things. Rather that than hotheads naming people on websites with no warning or, even worse, national red-tops naming people with misleading headlines.
It is these major facts and juxtaposition that are crucial at times like this, and the Birmingham Mail is determined to play its part in helping in any way it can.
(PS: Close chair watchers will note one poster's concern at the Birmingham Mail's Monday report which described fans "pouring" out of the ground after the match when the collision occurred. He even thinks this puts us in the same boat as The Sun's crass reporting.
Hmm. Entitled to his opinion, of course. And as the time of the incident now appears to have been confirmed to be 3pm, it's likely that it was the tail-end of the crowd departing rather than the initial waves of fans pouring. So point made. But a little pedantic, methinks. )
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Steve Dyson
Blog from the Editor on recent issues and events.
A bit rich to criticise the Sun for inaccuracies and then accuse a reader of being pedantic! Your reporter allowed his desire to write flowery prose to get in front of the facts. 'Pouring' was inaccurate, as you reluctantly concede and shows that the reporter failed to make some basic checks (or apply common sense). Thus the accuracy of the rest of your report is called into question. 'If he makes that up'…etc. etc.
Mr. Dyson,
The initial report was on your website on Sunday evening.
I note you chose not to answer my my observation regarding your "Full Story" headline when you contradict this with a quote from West Midlands Police within the article saying " ... we are still interviewing a large number of independent witnesses to build up a better under-standing of what happened ... ".
Forgive me if you think that is being pedantic. It is inconsistency at best, in my view it is a classic example of the headline not fitting the story.
All I was hoping for was accurate journalism and if you remember I have always stated the Sun went one step too far.
On a lesser scale your original article was not as thorough as what you claimed on a previous thread and that is very disappointing.
As other facts emerge it is sad I will be taking any claims from the Evening Mail with a pinch of salt.
I respect your decency in at least replying to my observations. Good luck to all and my thoughts remain with the family and friends of Mr. priest at this time
The error was The Sun blaming a Blues fan for the death on the basis of wild speculation.
Don't want to bore people on the dictionary front, but we'll have to agree to disagree on the "... fans were pouring out of the ground..." description.
The verb 'pour' has four main alternative verbs: 'transfer'; 'move'; 'empty'; and 'spill'. I think the description was fine... there was no hint in our copy that the 'pouring' (or transferring, moving, emptying or spilling) in any way caused the accident, but it was factual that fans were leaving the ground.
It's now been confirmed the accident happened at 3pm, and so I accept that it was the latter parts of the crowds leaving the ground. But the were still leaving the area.
Don't think you are boring anyone - I suspect only three of us are reading this discussion!
I think you are being a pedant now. It is pointless quoting dictionary definitions without some regard for context and in the sense of crowds leaving a match it means to spill out. It is a visual image I am sure we are all familiar with - thousands of people flooding the streets with no regard for roads or drivers. That was what I thought when I read the story. (There is a similar usage on your website in a related story, 'tributes poured in'.)
In fact it probably wasn't like that and the reporter cannot say because they weren't there at the time. Perhaps 'trickled' would have been more accurate. Who can say? The point is - if you don't know, don't speculate. What was wrong with 'as crowds left the ground'?
Im with Clifford and Douggie. If you had been to a football match you would know an hour after the match there would hardly be anyone left compared to the original numbers. The police would hardly be asking for more witnesses if there there were the numbers around the Mail suggests. Have all the web archives and references been amended like promised ? Dont patronise about other papers when yours is only one step behind. Saturdays story was funny and typical Mail taking the high ground when if you read it noone knows what happened totally - maybe that is why the men were bailed and not charged - and wow there was two Blues fans in the car who was not the driver. I cant see what the big hoo harr is to justify the hysterical major development that wasnt. I am angry at the Mail as it represents the city I was born in. The holier than thou attitude is just a diversion and you cant fool all of people all of the time.