Shame on ‘The Sun’ for publishing a non-story about a child being hit by a football in Belgrave Square; the ball was kicked by a girl who was with the footballer Cesc Fàbregas
On Wednesday, the The Sun indulged in one of their most sensationalist pieces of journalism in recent months when they published an article that reported on a child being hit on the head by a football in Belgrave Square.
According to Victoria Diethardt – the 29-year old wife of an investment banker and mother of the child hit by the ball – after her “little ray of sunshine” suffered the unwelcome “ordeal”, she confronted Chelsea player Cesc Fàbregas, who was with a girl who had kicked the ball. Mrs Diethardt told The Sun:
“I wasn’t going to let them leave without knowing who was responsible. I asked the man his name but his wife stepped forward and said she was Daniella [Cesc Fàbregas’ partner] and gave me her number… I had no idea who Fàbregas was until after he left when others in the park told me”.
Mrs Diehardt’s child was later diagnosed with a minor head injury but, as is now typically the way, she gave her story to The Sun (presumably for a fee) and ridiculously told the tabloid: “Fàbregas should pay for the rest of his life”.
In response, a spokesman for Mr Fàbregas sensibly remarked:
“Both Daniella and her daughter apologised profusely and Daniella has called and texted since to see if the baby was OK. When they got no response they presumed there was no cause for concern”.
Plainly only published due to a lack of other news, the story generated many comments when later shared by the Mail Online. Amongst them, were many suggesting that the Diehardt was trying to make money out of a non-incident. One went as far as to remark: “This woman is trying to cash in because of who he is” whilst another added: “Call her out for what she is – a FREELOADER”.