LONDON (AP) -- The British media's self-regulatory body has ruled that a newspaper was justified in paying to interview the family of Louise Woodward, the au pair convicted in Massachusetts of killing the baby in her care.
The sum paid by the Daily Mail for an interview with Woodward's parents was not revealed.But the Press Complaints Commission said the article published last year was in the public interest, and "payment was necessary because of the obvious financial plight of the Woodwards."
The voluntary press code says payments can be made to criminals or their associates if there is a public interest defense and if it is necessary to secure publication.
Woodward, convicted of killing 8-month-old Matthew Eappen, was originally found guilty of second-degree murder in 1997. The verdict was reduced to manslaughter by the trial judge, who freed her.
The Daily Mail paid for an interview with her parents between the first and second verdicts in the case -- before the conviction was reduced from murder to manslaughter.