Newspaper column on death of Gately 'did not break law'

The 33-year-old Boyzone singer died of natural causes due to a pulmonary oedema on October 10 last year at his holiday home on the island of Majorca.

A comment piece on his death by Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir, which was published on October 16, prompted two complaints to the Metropolitan Police.

Scotland Yard passed the complaints to the CPS which said there was "insufficient evidence" that the article breached the law.

A separate complaint that two comment pieces were "inaccurate", "intrusive" and "discriminatory" was not upheld, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) said yesterday.

Gately's civil partner Andrew Cowles made the complaint to the PCC about two articles written by Ms Moir in the Daily Mail on October 16 and October 23 last year.

The PCC said it could fully understand why Mr Cowles and a record 25,000 other complainants were upset by the article but ruled Ms Moir's comments had not breached press guidelines.

Mr Cowles said the articles headed "Why there was nothing 'natural' about Stephen Gately's death" and "The truth about my views on the tragic death of Stephen Gately" were inaccurate, intrusive at a time of grief, and discriminatory.

The PCC said the Daily Mail had to accept responsibility for the distress it had caused although its ruling welcomed Ms Moir's apology to Gately's family for the ill-timed nature of the article.

But the press watchdog said it also had to consider the complaint in the wider context of press freedom.