Spare a thought today for the ruined Christmas of a couple arrested for the drone incident that caused chaos at Gatwick airport, who were later released without charge and are “no longer suspects” according to police. As if the drama of being taken away by the police and having their house searched was not enough, their embarrassment was exacerbated by some media coverage, which all but accused them of being lawbreakers.

Gatwick drone chaos: arrested couple freed without charge Read more

One newspaper in particular, the Mail on Sunday, seems to me to have gone way over the top in its coverage. The front page of this morning’s issue was dominated by a picture of the pair next to the headline: “Are these the morons who ruined Christmas?”

That question mark is no defence and will surely offer the paper’s editor little, if any, wriggle room should the couple choose to complain to the regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), or even take legal action.

Although the text was more circumspect, the Mail on Sunday’s headline gave readers a giant nudge towards a belief in the couple’s guilt. And an unidentified “neighbour” was quoted as saying the arrested man was “a big kid”.

All of this – the weight of the coverage, the headline and the slyly belittling quote to undermine his credibility – is a little reminiscent of the notorious incident at Christmas 2010 when Christopher Jefferies was arrested on suspicion of murdering his tenant, Joanna Yeates. He was innocent and quickly released, but by then his character had been assassinated because several national newspapers had thrown caution to the wind. The drones case is less clear cut, and the offence minor in comparison, but there are echoes.

There was plenty of material about the couple’s backgrounds which some might view as intrusive

Given what happened in that case, it is surprising that the Mail failed to take more care. Jefferies brought libel actions against eight papers over the coverage and was paid substantial damages. Two titles, the Sun and the Daily Mirror, were also found guilty of contempt of court.

But that was far from the only punishment for the papers because Jefferies proved to be an articulate critic of press misbehaviour, as he continues to be. He gave damning evidence of his ordeal to the Leveson inquiry into press ethics, and he has since become a leading member of the Hacked Off group, which may well view this as an example of editors returning to pre-Leveson days.

Other newspapers also named the couple and carried their photographs – unlike TV news broadcasters, which chose not to identify them. In most cases, papers did appear to be sceptical about the couple’s guilt. While describing the man as a drone enthusiast, they gave more prominence to comments by his employer about his being at work during the time of the drone’s incursion on to Gatwick’s runway area.

Gatwick: another case of horses and stable doors Read more

Even so, there was plenty of material about the couple’s backgrounds, and anonymised quotes about their personalities, all of which some might view as intrusive. Some social media criticism has been incautious too, including a tweet by Piers Morgan, former print editor turned TV presenter, who unwisely referred to the couple as clowns. He has since apologised, excusing himself by saying he had followed “other media”.

It would be surprising if the couple shrug the matter aside and therefore doubtful that the Mail on Sunday, and maybe other titles too, will escape unscathed.

Yes, there is a public interest argument that favours disclosure of the facts. But it does not justify the “morons” splash.

• Roy Greenslade is professor of journalism at City University and a Guardian columnist