Why we didn't name this child

It is a question which was aired on television and radio yesterday after The Northern Echo's story about a 14-year-old girl being sent home from hospital with her miscarried baby in a specimen jar.

We believe the answer to the question is 'no'. It cannot be right to publicly identify a child who has become pregnant, lost her baby, and then had to endure additional distress because of unbelievable misjudgements at her local hospital.

We knew the name of the girl. We had her parents' permission to publish the story. The Press Complaints Commission, the newspaper industry's watchdog, advised us that we would not be in breach of its code of conduct if we revealed her identity, although a moral question remained.

But while we believe that exposing the failures of her treatment at the new £67m Bishop Auckland General Hospital was clearly in the public interest, naming her was not.

The Sun took a different view. Armed with a chequebook, it persuaded the family to go public and the girl's photograph was splashed across its front page and a double-page spread inside.

The family's decision to allow that to happen is a matter for them. But, in our view, it is another misjudgement, adding to the sadness surrounding this disturbing case.

The Press Complaints Commission's code of conduct says: "The Press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences."

This was not a court case so no-one has been charged with a criminal offence. But beyond the narrow definition of the law, we would argue that this 14-year-old girl is a victim of acutely tragic circumstances and the principle of protecting her identity should apply.

"Sick" was The Sun's headline, describing the girl's treatment by the hospital. Many would argue that the treatment of a vulnerable schoolgirl by Britain's biggest-selling national newspaper was abhorrent too.