SKY News chiefs have been cleared of breaching the broadcasting code after a reporter hacked into the email of convicted fraudsters John and Anne Darwin.
The pair made headlines after concocting a plot which involved John Darwin faking his own death in a canoeing accident while Anne Darwin cashed in insurance and pension policies worth around £250,000, before the pair reunited in Panama.
Sky News announced last April that it had authorised one of its reporters, Gerard Tubb, to access the email of individuals suspected of criminal activity.
Ofcom said neither Mr or Mrs Darwin, both of whom have been released from prison, had complained but the regulator had a general duty to investigate possible infringements of privacy and especially in the light of public concern about unauthorised accessing of voicemail and emails by journalists.
It said the exceptional circumstances of this case outweighed Mr and Mrs Darwin's expectation of privacy.
Ofcom said the company's conduct was at the boundaries of what was appropriate but was warranted in the particular circumstances of this case.
The Darwins were convicted in 2008 after a court heard they deceived police, a coroner, financial institutions and their sons.
Their crimes came to light after John Darwin flew back to the UK in 2007 apparently after a change in visa laws in Panama.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article