Journalist Paul Sheehan suspended from Sydney Morning Herald over discredited rape story about 'Middle Eastern Men'

The column was retracted after it came under heavy criticism and a number of claims it contained were found to be unsubstantiated

Paul Sheehan was a well known columnist at The Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper

Journalist Paul Sheehan has been suspended from his position at The Sydney Morning Herald after writing a rape story which has since been discredited.

Mr Sheehan wrote an article titled 'The Horrifying Untold Story of Louise' containing claims by a woman known as ‘Louise’ that she had been raped and beaten by 'Middle Eastern Men'. It was published on 22 February but later retracted after its content was heavily criticised.

A number of the claims were found to be inaccurate or unsubstantiated. The woman had claimed that she reported the alleged attack to New South Wales police six months after it took place but had been told by a police officer that her complaint could not be acted on because it was too late and she lacked evidence. No such record of a complaint has been recorded.

Mr Sheehan has since admitted that he: “failed to test that claim adequately.”

According to ABC Australia, the newspaper’s Editor In Chief Darren Goodsir conducted a review of the column and found that it contained: “unacceptable breaches of fundamental journalistic practice.” He says that Mr Sheehan has been suspended until further notice.

Mr Sheehan has apologised for the article and admitted that a number of key elements of the piece had not been verified and could not be substantiated. He said: “Nobody but her knows what happened, and although I was given a considerable number of details about her experiences that were credible, I acknowledge that there was not enough definite information to justify writing the story.”

He apologised to NSW Police for creating an: “impression of police indifference towards this alleged crime.”