Telegraph censured for fabricated story of banker’s struggle to pay school fees
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<p>Watchdog upholds complaint it breached code with article about impact of VAT on a family that did not exist</p><p>The Telegraph has been reprimanded by a press standards watchdog after it published an entirely fabricated story about a wealthy banker complaining of the impact of school fee increases.</p><p>Ian Fraser, a freelance journalist and author, complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) that the Telegraph had breached the editors’ co
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Telegraph censured for fabricated story of banker’s struggle to pay school fees Watchdog upholds complaint it breached code with article about impact of VAT on a family that did not exist The Telegraph has been reprimanded by a press standards watchdog after it published an entirely fabricated story about a wealthy banker complaining of the impact of school fee increases. Ian Fraser, a freelance journalist and author, complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that the Telegraph had breached the editors’ code of practice in an article headlined: “We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays.” The article, published online only on 25 May last year, reported on the impact increases in private school fees had had on a named couple and their three children. The story explained how the investment banker Al Moy, 38, and his wife, Alexandra, had a joint salary of £345,000 with two children at fee-paying schools. It said the couple also had a daughter, Ali, a son called Harry and a two-year-old, named Barry. The article claimed that after the addition of VAT to school fees, introduced by Labour on 1 January 2025, the couple were forced to switch supermarkets from Waitrose to Sainsbury’s, reduce their gardener to once a month and were taking fewer long-haul foreign holidays in order to make ends meet. But the family did not exist. Last year, after suggestions the whole article was generated by AI, the Press Gazette revealed it was written by a real journalist, based on a real telephone interview with a man who appears to have deceived the reporter and given them a fake name. The Press Gazette said the case study was set up by a PR working for the financial planning firm Saltus. The story also referenced Saltus research that estimated the average lifetime cost of school fees. Fraser first flagged concerns on Bluesky over the use of stock images to illustrate the family, which were taken over a decade ago. Fraser said he coul...
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