Comment: Caitlin Moran on the Alpha Mummy blog

Glamour model Katie Price is planning to complain to the Press Complaints Commission about the unfavourable depiction of her young disabled son Harvey in the current issue of Heat magazine.

The high profile celebrity weekly has been under fire since yesterday morning for producing a sticker of the five year old, with the phrase “Harvey wants to eat me!” — amid a series of complaints to the press watchdog.

Harvey Price suffers from septo-optic dysplasia, a rare condition which means he is visually impaired and suffers from hormonal deficiencies. The portrayal of the child has also been attacked by disability rights groups.

This afternoon the PCC heard from the agent representing Katie Price — better known as Jordan — that she intended to complain. The watchdog had already had 30 complaints from members of the public, but it has no power to act on third party complaints. A complaint, though, from a custodial parent means that it is bound to investigate.

Yesterday, Liz Sayce, the chief executive of RADAR, the disability rights body, said: “Unfortunately bullying of disabled people, especially children, is endemic. Mocking people in print because they are different gives strength to the bullies and entrenches prejudice. Heat magazine should know better.”

Ahead of the likely PCC enquiry, Mark Frith, the editor of Heat, has apologised. He said that “no offence was intended, but if any was caused we would like to apologise”. He said that he would be writing a letter to Katie Price and her husband, the singer Peter Andre, to repeat that personally.

The magazine’s sticker appears also to be a breach of the Press Complaints Commission Code, which states that the press must avoid “prejudicial or perjorative reference” to “any physical or mental disability”.

Ms Price — better known as Jordan — could not be reached for comment through her agents Can Associates. The child’s father is footballer Dwight Yorke, although that relationship has ended, and his mother has since married Peter Andre.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said that it could not comment on the specific item in the magazine, but made clear its disapproval in general terms. A spokeswoman said: “The media needs to show a need for awareness and sensitivity. Obviously the sort of society we hope to live in should be fair to everybody”.

Heat had been attracting criticism throughout the day, after Times Online drew attention to the sticker on the Alpha Mummy blog. That in turn attracted a series of comments from readers, criticising the magazine’s decision to produce a sticker that could be taken by children to school or put up in the workplace.

One Times Online reader said: “Quite apart from its offensiveness, I don't see the point of it. What are they trying to say with this sticker? Is there some joke I'm not getting? I've always felt huge distaste for the way in which Jordan parades her disabled child in celebrity magazines. But this is beyond.”

Heat magazine’s non-stop diet of celebrity news, gossip and pictures, has made it one of the publication success stories of the last decade. This week’s issue advertises the “50 free stickers” on its cover, as well as featuring an unrelated picture of Katie Price with the headline “Stars who hate their bodies”.

The title is bought by over 550,000 people each week and read by many more. It is owned by Emap, Britain’s second biggest magazine publisher, which is currently up for sale in an attempt to lift its flagging share price.

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