Westcounty MP makes complaint after Devil child photo published on The Sun front page

A Westcountry MP has said she will refer The Sun to the Press Complaints Commission over its publication of a picture of a child it said had the mark of the devil. The paper has provoked a furious reaction with its lead story Tuesday after associating a little boy with the Devil in an Omen-esque front page. Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MP for Totnes, said she was appalled at the story in The Sun including a photo which clearly identifies the boy. The Sun's exclusive features the four-year-old with a "mark of the devil" on his chest and contains images of the child and his mother which have not been pixilated out. Posts on social media have since suggested the mark is in fact that made by a hairdryer.

The Sun's front-page pictures & names a 4 yr old boy ("Mark of Satan") w/ a burn from a hairdryer pic.twitter.com/NbFuM4Ra9O via @PsychiatrySHO

— Dr Evan Harris (@DrEvanHarris) July 29, 2014

Dr Wollaston said the story endangered the child, especially with its lurid headline "BOY, 4, HAS MARK OF DEVIL." She tweeted on Monday night: "@TheSunNewspaper should pull their damaging front page story with photo of a child. He does not carry 'mark of devil' he is a real child!". She added:

Serious question @TheSunNewspaper Was any consideration at all given to the risks to/interests of this clearly identifiable child or others?

— Sarah Wollaston MP (@drwollastonmp) July 29, 2014

Speaking to the Guardian, Dr Wollaston said she would be referring to the story to the Press Complaints Commission. "It is a completely outrageous headline, and to link that with an identifiable picture of a child is wholly inappropriate on every level," she said. "This is absolutely not lighthearted. What possible justification can there be for including this child's face, or for saying this child is marked by the devil? It is the most irresponsible piece of journalism I have seen for a long time." The Sun quotes the child's mother as saying: "Just looking at it made me shake, thinking something unnatural had visited my boy. Something or someone made the sign on him but we just can't explain how." The mark is said to have appeared on May 23 and had disappeared by June 16. A spokesman for the Sun told The Guardian: "This was a story provided by the parents , who had already publicised the pictures and story on Facebook. We sought to treat it in a lighthearted fashion, highlighting the apparently fanciful link to the occult. "We are conscious of the code and guidance around paying parents. We did not encourage the parents to embellish or expand the story; it came to us, and had already been the subject of discussion (raised by the parents) on social media. "It's also worth noting that no concerns were expressed about the child's welfare. An unusual mark appears, the mother gets it checked out by a doctor who confirms there is no medical reason why it should be there, and discharges her. Social workers are not involved."