A regional news website removed an inquest report after the dead man’s daughter complained to the press watchdog about the story.

Kent Online agreed to take the article down from its site after the complaint by Catherine Corbin to the Independent Press standards Organisation.

The story reported on the inquest into the death of the her father, and mentioned contributing factors that the inquest heard may have led to his death.

Ms Corbin argued the article, including the headline, was misleading, as it distorted information heard during the inquest regarding the contributing factors to her father’s death.

The homepage of Kent Online

She also said that the publication of this article had been distressing for her family, including children, and had intruded into their grief.

Ms Corbin complained under Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 2 (Privacy), Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock), Clause 5 (Reporting Suicide) and Clause 6 (Children) of the Editors’ Code of Practice.

Kent Online expressed sympathy for the family during this difficult time and said that the headline was based on comments made by the assistant coroner during the inquest.

The site provided a recording of the inquest proceedings, and maintained that the article was an accurate summary of the inquest’s findings.

Following IPSO’s intervention, Kent Online offered to remove the article and gave an assurance it would not be reproduced in the future.

The complainant said that this resolved the matter to her satisfaction, and no adjudication was made on whether there had been a breach of Code.

The full resolution statement can be found here.