The press watchdog has cleared a weekly newspaper of intrusion into grief or shock after a grieving mum complained about a report on her son’s suicide.

Rosemary Greenaway complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that Kentish Express breached Clause 4 of the Editor’s Code in a story about the death of her son Luke Greenaway.

The 33-year-old died at Ashford Rugby Club and a coroner ruled that he had taken his own life.

As well as reporting on the inquest, the Express’s story contained what it called an “emotional tribute” from the complainant.

It read: “Luke had many problems throughout his life including relationships, grief, physical health, financial problems and addiction, which all played a part in him taking his own life.

“All he wanted was to be loved and be part of a family. Luke will always be loved by those that matter, including his family, children and closest friends. He will never be forgotten.”

Ms Greenaway had sought copy approval on the story before publication and although the newspaper refused this, she was shown a draft of it and declared it was “fine.”

However she objected to the prominence given to the report and its use in a podcast in which two reporters discussed the story.

She also claimed that a reporter from the paper had intruded into grief or shock by attending a celebration of Mr Greenway’s life at the rugby club and for taking a picture of the exterior of the building.

She said she had felt pressured by the publication into providing comments for the article, because she had been told it would publish an article about the inquest whether the family commented or not.

The Express took down the podcast after Ms Greenaway complained but denied the behaviour of the reporter at the rugby club had breached Clause 4, saying she had left when asked to do so by the family.

The newspaper also did not accept it had pressured the complainant into commenting on the article.

In its ruling, the complaints committee said that there was no obligation for newspapers to ask for permission from a person’s family to cover the death, and that the Express had in fact gone farther in its efforts to reflect the family’s wishes in its coverage than it was obliged to under the Code.

It said that from the correspondence provided to the IPSO by Ms Greenaway and the newspaper, it was clear that, during its written interactions with the complainant, the publication had acted with sympathy and discretion.

There was therefore no breach of Clause 4 and the complaint was not upheld.

The full ruling, which includes a detailed account of the complainant’s attempt to gain copy approval for the story, can be found here.