Collymore loses fight against newspaper over Ulrika Jonsson attack
Former Aston Villa star turned football pundit Stan Collymore has lost his challenge against a national newspaper article over his attack on former girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson.
The Cannock born talkSPORT star had accused The Sun of publishing an inaccurate and misleading' article in January this year saying it had 'seriously misrepresented' him, 'had misled readers' and had also 'engaged in harassment.'
The paper reported that Jonsson branded him a hypocrite in light of vile racist abuse he suffered on Twitter.
Collymore complained that the newspaper wrongly accused him of trying to justify his actions.
The pundit said he regretted what happened on the night between him and Jonsson in the 1990s.
He complained to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) which has ruled none of his concerns have been upheld, and that there was no breach of the Editor's Code of Practice.
A PCC report said: "As the article made clear that the complainant had compared his single 'open handed' strike with the harm which may have been caused by a more brutal attack, the commission concluded that readers would not have been misled by the headline or about the basis for the newspaper's view that the complainant had sought to 'justify' the attack."
The report also states that while a reporter remained outside Collymore's home for a 'considerable period of time, 'he had no contact with the footballer and no request was made for him to leave.'"
It continues: "It did not appear that he had acted in an intimidating manner and, once he had spoken to the complainant and been informed he did not wish to comment, the reporter had not persisted in questioning him."
