THE SUNDAY TIMES is to donate €25,000 to HIV Ireland after issuing an apology to the family of Angelo Andreucetti over an article containing false information about him.

In an article printed in the Sunday Times on 8 January, it was incorrectly stated that Andreucetti was addicted to heroin, that he died in a heroin squat in London in the 1980s, destitute and friendless. 

It was also stated that his body was brought back to Dublin for burial. 

The Sunday Times outlined these inaccuracies in an apology on 15 January. 

It clarified: “We have since learnt that he was not a heroin addict, that he died from an Aids-related illness, and not heroin addiction, in a Middlesex hospital in August 1994, aged 32, with family and friends by his bedside.

“His body was not, as incorrectly stated, brought back to Dublin for burial. He was buried in London. He was aged 17 and not 15 in the photograph which accompanied the article.

“The Sunday Times and Neil Francis take this opportunity to correct the record and to apologise for these mistakes.”

HIV Ireland has today welcomed the decision by the family of the late Angelo Andreucetti to nominate the charity as recipients of a €25,000 donation from the Sunday Times. 

Welcoming the decision of the family to nominate the charity as recipients of the donation, HIV Ireland executive director Stephen O’Hare said it is an “extraordinary gesture by the Andreucetti family following what must have been a very hurtful and distressing experience”.

“Not only were the claims in the article shown to be false, they perpetuate, by their very nature, the sort of stigma and shame that has dogged experiences of both HIV and addiction for decades,” O’Hare said.

“It is therefore fitting that we mark today, 1 March, known internationally as Zero Discrimination Day, by welcoming this profound gesture,” he added. 

O’Hare said the money will be used to support the work of Ireland’s recently established national peer support network for people living with HIV, which aims to provide one-to-one peer support at a local level including, in particular, for those who are newly diagnosed with HIV.

“We are beyond grateful to Mr Andreucetti’s family and pledge to honour Angelo’s legacy by continuing to provide support, combat stigma and foster inclusion in partnership with the community of people living with HIV in Ireland”, he added.

The Journal has contacted The Sunday Times for comment.