The Express corrected its story a year after its source did. (Credit: Pixabay)

The UK Express corrected a three-year-old article in late January, a year after another news outlet retracted the same claims.

In a Jan. 27, 2020 correction, the Express corrected the claims that convicted murderer Ian Huntley “wanted a sex change” and was identifying with a female name.

However, the Express claimed that its article was based on stories from the Daily Star Sunday and the Sun, and the Daily Star Sunday had retracted its story. The Daily Star Sunday‘s retraction was published Feb. 2019.

iMediaEthics has written to the Express to ask why it took a year after the Daily Star Sunday‘s retraction to correct and if Huntley complained. The Express declined to comment to iMediaEthics.

In its correction, the Express noted the Daily Star Sunday retracted its article a year ago. “That correction has recently been brought to our attention,” the Express said, so the paper was now correcting its report.

The Express correction reads:

“On 15 February 2017 we published an article headlined “‘Call me Lian’ Soham murderer Ian Huntley gives himself FEMALE name amid sex change report.’

“The article reported that Huntley “wanted a sex change so he could serve his life term in a female prison”. The claims were based on stories originally reported by the Daily Star Sunday and The Sun. However the Daily Star Sunday has published a retraction in print regarding their claims. 

On 10 February 2019 the Daily Star Sunday published a Correction which said “In the article ‘Sick killer Huntley’s wig stunt’, published on 8 April 2018, we reported that prisoner Ian Huntley had been wearing a blonde wig and asking fellow inmates to call him Nicola.

“We also reported that Ian Huntley intended to join the Transgender Pathway in order to become a woman. Ian Huntley would like to make it clear that he does not own a wig, has never asked to be addressed by any name other than his own and that there has never been a plan for him to change his gender identity.”

“That Correction has recently been brought to our attention and light of the Daily Star Sunday‘s amplification of Ian Huntley’s position, Express.co.uk has removed our article which repeated the claims made by the Daily Star Sunday and The Sun.“