Leicester Mercury 11 May 2012 Daily Mail coverage of Madeleine at Leveson Inquiry

Newspaper boss's 'regret' over coverage .Friday, May 11, 2012 Leicester Mercury
Follow.Newspaper group chairman Lord Rothermere yesterday expressed "regret" over the Daily Mail's coverage of Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

The cross-bench peer, who is chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, spoke at the Leveson inquiry into the media.

He said: "As a parent you would have to be inhuman not to feel deeply about what the McCanns went through, and I was no different from anybody else."

According to reports by journalism.co.uk, Lord Rothermere said his journalists covering the disappearance were unfamiliar with the way in which the Portuguese media and police operated.

He added: "A number of allegations were made which were followed up in our newspapers which we regret and, when the McCanns complained, we immediately rectified and gave them compensation.

"It's a regrettable occurrence, but it is the nature sometimes of journalism to do that.

"I don't believe our newspapers set out to wilfully upset the McCanns.

"They were reporting on briefings they had which they believed to be true and when they realised they made a mistake they rectified it."

During the inquiry, Lord Rothermere also gave details of meetings with Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, but insisted there had been nothing improper about the contacts.