Telegraph apologises to Mt Druitt students

By Kerri Carr

The Daily Telegraph has published an apology to the 1996 HSC class at Mount Druitt High School.

The apology comes after a Supreme Court jury found a front-page article published in the newspaper on January 8, 1997 defamed 28 Mount Druitt High School students.

The students sued the publisher after the newspaper published a photograph of the school's year 12 photo under the heading "Class we failed".

Damages have been settled out of court.

One of the class of 1996 students, Khrise Toledo, who addressed Federation Council earlier this year about the impact the defamatory article had on her life, said she was "happy with the settlement" and the "apology had been requested" by the students.

The apology, published November 13, states in part: "In that story The Daily Telegraph suggested, among other things, that the students in the class of 1996 failed their HSC.

"This is wrong and The Daily Telegraph withdraws any such suggestion. The Daily Telegraph also withdraws any suggestion that those students acted without discipline or commitment in their HSC studies.

"The students in the HSC class of 1996 successfully completed their HSC and contrary to the suggestions in the original article many of those students performed very well scoring high marks in the HSC.

"The Daily Telegraph apologises to each student in the class of 1996 at Mt Druitt. It also apologises to their parents and friends for all the hurt, harm and suffering it has caused them."

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November 2000 contents