A regional daily’s editor has defended a reporter after live footage of a man attacking a woman was broadcast on the newspaper’s Facebook page.

Arron Hendy, who edits Brighton daily The Argus, has backed the journalist amid criticism from some readers after the live video stream of the assault appeared on the title’s page on the social network.

The video of the woman being “slapped and verbally abused” was later removed and The Argus has handed the footage to police, but it prompted a number of Facebook users to question why the reporter did not intervene and why the stream remained live.

The journalist, whose identity has been withheld by the newspaper, was capturing footage of football fans in Brighton when the assault occurred after Sunday evening’s Euro 2020 final between England and Italy.

In an editorial on the incident, Arron said the reporter was “collecting vital evidence of a crime” and alerted a police officer to who the alleged culprit was, noting his journalists are told “they should never put themselves in danger” while working.

He wrote: “Fans had gathered en masse and some were fighting in the street. Then, shockingly, one of our reporters witnessed a woman being assaulted by a man. She was slapped and verbally abused.

“This horrified our reporter but they continued to do their job in filming the incident. It is our duty to bear witness and it was unclear whether the situation was going to escalate. There were other people close by.

“Quite understandably our footage prompted a strong response from our readers who discussed whether the reporter should have stepped in and/or stopped filming.

“Our journalists are told that they should never put themselves in danger. If somebody is being hostile they must not put themselves at risk of harm.”

Arron added that the footage was then removed from Facebook “for the assaulted woman’s welfare”, before the incident was again reported to the police via the 101 number.

He said: “We have of course provided the footage for the police and we are happy to assist them with any investigation.

“We have documented the incident and reported on it. There were many more violent incidents in that area on Sunday evening and it is not the reporter’s job to get involved in any of them.

“Our reporters put themselves into all sorts of situations to expose crime and wrongdoing and shine a light on all the dark corners of society. This is their job.

“We have provided reports, video and photographs from the scene so that hopefully distressing scenes such as this are not repeated.

“The violence against this woman has no place in a civilized society. We will be speaking to the police to find out what further action is being taken.”

HTFP has approached Sussex Police for a comment.