Sun offers £50000 reward in Joanna Yeates case

Police investigating the death of Joanna Yeates say they are grateful to the Sun for offering a £50,000 reward in the case.

In a front page report today, the Sun said it hoped the reward would "bring a longed-for breakthrough" in the investigation.

In a statement detective chief inspector Phil Jones of Avon and Somerset police said he was grateful to the tabloid for putting up the reward, adding that he was sure Joanna's family "would be touched".

"It demonstrates the level to which the murder of Joanna Yeates has touched the nation, and also shows the commitment of the media to supporting our efforts to bring whoever is responsible for killing Jo to justice.

"I'm sure someone out there has that vital piece of information we need to catch Jo's killer."

Earlier this week Journalism.co.uk reported that ITV News had been banned from a press conference on the case by the police force following a news bulletin by the broadcaster which the police claimed to be "unfair, naïve and irresponsible".

Avon and Somerset police, which has lodged a complaint with Ofcom over the report, later lifted the press conference ban on ITV News, but warned it would "not hesitate to adopt similar tactics" in the future.

ITN claimed at the time that Avon and Somerset police had been contacted "numerous times" prior to broadcast but "did not use this opportunity to register any issues or raise a complaint with ITN".

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