Wales Newsagents Ban The Sun for Sickening Coverage of Eliza-Mae Death

A newsagents in South Wales has pulled copies of the Sun from the shelves over its insensitive and sensational front page reporting of the death of baby Eliza-Mae Martha Mullane, who was killed by the family dog at her home in Pontyberem.

The newsagent refused to stock the national newspaper in a show of solidarity with the family of Eliza-Mae.

Its front page read 'Dog Ate My Baby's Head', with a picture of the six-day-old baby and an Alaskan Malamute.

MP Nia Griffith told the Llanelli Star: "I am appalled that the Sun has chosen to sensationalise this terrible tragedy. I am sure that many people in Llanelli will boycott The Sun newspaper for its disgraceful coverage of this dreadful tragedy.

"I would beg all the media to treat the matter sensitively and to respect the family's privacy at this harrowing time."

Llanelli assembly member Keith Davies also condemned the newspaper for its coverage: "This tragedy, the death of such a young baby in such traumatic circumstances, will have affected not just the village of Pontyberem but the whole of the Gwendraeth Valley.

"It will be hard for most of us to imagine just how distressing the situation will have been, especially for the family. I find it extremely distasteful that some of the national press have chosen to sensationalise the death of this baby in the way we've seen today.

"The paper and the organisation who produced the content for the paper really must question their own editorial judgement on this one. Long after the news media have left, the family and friends will continue to grieve and they must be given the space to do so."

Simon Thomas, Mid and West assembly member called the Sun's front page "nauseating" and "abhorrent".

Meanwhile assembly member Rebecca Evans has called for David Dinsmore, the editor of the Sun, to issue a formal apology to the family of Eliza-Mae and her home community.

She said the newspaper had sunk to "new depths" in sensationalist reporting, adding it is "sickening, showing nothing but complete moral bankruptcy".

"The family has suffered unimaginably and deserve to be treated with sensitivity. I am pleased that newsagents locally have refused to stock the Sun today as a mark of solidarity and respect to the family," she said.

Responding to the outcry, a Sun spokesperson said: "We recognise that at the heart of this story is the tragic death of a very young child.

"Our coverage today (over three pages) seeks to convey the full extent of the attack, including by quoting the horrified reaction of Eliza-Mae's mother (which has been widely reported elsewhere).

"People will rightly be saddened by the death of Eliza-Mae, and we wanted to convey a sense of the shock and horror of what had happened. We had no intention of being disrespectful, and regret that people have been concerned by our headline."

The refusal to stock the Sun harks back to the Hillsborough disaster. The tabloid caused outrage across Liverpool and beyond for its coverage of the tragedy. Three decades on, many people in the city still refuse to read the paper and many newsagents still refuse to stock it.