The Herald has apologised for its ‘unfortunate’ wardrobe ad placement

The Herald newspaper has said it regrets the placement of a furniture ad next to a story about murdered woman Joanne Lee.

The story appeared directly above an ad for 'wardrobe specials' at furniture store Bargain Town. Dublin woman Joanne's body was found by Gardaí in a wardrobe at a flat in Ranelagh last Thursday. She had been missing for over a week. The page went viral on social media, drawing a lot of criticism from commentators.

And the winner of the 2018 most inappropriate product placement in a newspaper goes to the @Herald_ie pic.twitter.com/85qJUgqNSQ

— Tony Groves (@Trickstersworld) February 19, 2018

In a statement today, Group Tabloid Editor Des Gibson apologised to readers, the advertiser and the Joanne Lee's family, saying the ad placement was a "genuine mistake". He said some of her relative had been in contact over it. Here's his statement in full:

"In yesterday's Herald an unfortunate advertisement appeared beneath a story about the killing of Dublin woman Joanne Lee.

"This was a genuine mistake on our part in which the space is left vacant for a named advertisement and then the advert is placed at the end of the production process.

"This should of course be then checked to avoid any possible insensitivity or offence but this did not happen on this occasion, much to our regret.

"We would again apologise to the Lee family, some of whom contacted the paper, as well as our readers and the advertiser involved.

"Des Gibson, Herald Group Tabloid Editor."