Live Roundups Editor's Desk Insights Executive Ops Weather About 🔍
Home › Sport › David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers used sexualised images...
Sport

David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers used sexualised images of underage girls as ‘bait for predatory men’

The Guardian Sport Tuesday 09 June 2026, 18:05 UTC By Emine Sinmaz, Geraldine McKelvie and Jacob Steinberg 1 min read
Key Points

Former victims’ commissioner says publication ‘deliberately came as close as possible to breaking the law’David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers used sexualised images of underage girls as “bait for predatory men”, the former victims’ commissioner has said. Vera Baird spoke amid scrutiny of the newspapers’ ’Countdown to 16’ feature, where during Sullivan’s tenure as owner, models were pictured in lingerie and bikinis in the weeks before their 16th birthdays, until they could legally be shown topless.

Former victims’ commissioner says publication ‘deliberately came as close as possible to breaking the law’

David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers used sexualised images of underage girls as “bait for predatory men”, the former victims’ commissioner has said.

Vera Baird spoke amid scrutiny of the newspapers’ ’Countdown to 16’ feature, where during Sullivan’s tenure as owner, models were pictured in lingerie and bikinis in the weeks before their 16th birthdays, until they could legally be shown topless.

Continue reading...
David Sullivan’s (PERSON) Sullivan (PERSON) Vera Baird (PERSON)
Originally published by The Guardian Sport Read original →

Related Stories

Big 12 preview: Despite the drama, Texas Tech stil...

Back when the NIL era was in its nascent stages, with a new Big 12 and a 12-team College Football Playoff on the way, I wondered if there was room for the emergence of a Clemson-style dynasty from a conference known primarily for the endless number of close games. If some team could craft a recruiting boost from both solid spending and sustained success, perhaps they could ride that to a series of conference titles and, perhaps, even playoff runs? I admittedly didn't have a specific team in...

ESPN just now

From heart-stopping moments to underdog runs, coll...

Holy smokes, what an NCAA baseball tournament it has been. Leave it the hell alone. There are zero returning teams from last year's Men's College World Series participating in the edition that will begin Friday afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska.

ESPN 19m ago

Transfer portal superlatives: Louisville, Duke, St...

We've passed every major mile marker of the men's college basketball offseason: The transfer portal opened and closed, the NBA draft withdrawal deadline has come and gone, and all of ESPN's top 100 transfers have committed. Now, Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf are here to make sense of all the player movement and what it means for the teams they joined. From contenders that improved title hopes the most to teams that should have done more, here are the biggest winners and losers.

ESPN 37m ago

Don't make these six draft mistakes

Even if you follow the NFL closely, fantasy football drafts can humble even the most diehard fans. Your season doesn't start in Week 1. It starts on draft day, and for some managers, that's where things begin to slip.

ESPN 40m ago