The mother of the late Gordon Gentle, killed earlier this year in Iraq, has become the focus of a Ministry of Defence (MoD) censorship notice issued to the British media and obtained by SpinWatch. Having discovered that her son's life could have been spared had standard issue countermeasures been available to his regiment she highlighted this in coverage of the story. The absence of counter-measures also forms the basis of the legal action against the MoD launched by the Gentle family.

The 'Defence Advisory' notice released on the 3rd of September has not been reported in any British news outlet. It states that 'following the recent press conference given by the family of the late Fusilier Gordon Gentle' certain counter-measures employed by the British Army in Iraq (electronic jamming devices that are designed to prevent the remote detonation of bombs) should not be discussed in news coverage in any more than 'general' terms.

Despite admitting that 'the existence of such electronic measures in general is widely in the public domain', news editors are instructed to 'remind your staff of the real and serious danger to life of publishing any such details'. Rose Gentle consequently finds herself silenced.

The notice has led to an effective gagging of Rose Gentle's contributions in the British mainstream media with reports of the Gentle family's subsequent legal action against the MOD finding little space in news programmes and press.

D Notices are a well known and peculiarly British device which are said to be 'voluntary' and 'advisory' with no legal force. But in practice few media outlets defy them. The MoD claim that they only relate to matters of national security, but the clear effect of this notice is to interfere with Rose Gentle's attempts to pursue justice for her son.

To read the d-notice issued click here: Spinwatch Downloads

For the official d-notices website click here: http://www.dnotice.org.uk/

To contact the Justice for Gordon Gentle Campaign email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
tel. 07780 757 415