The England cricket player Ben Stokes has described a front-page article by the Sun newspaper about a family tragedy 31 years ago as “disgusting” and “immoral”.
In a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, Stokes said the paper’s decision to publish the story would have “grave and lifelong consequences” for his mother in particular. He claimed the story, which was also picked up by Mail Online, contained a series of serious inaccuracies.
“Today the Sun has seen fit to publish extremely painful, sensitive and personal details concerning events in the private lives of my family, going back more than 31 years,” he wrote.
“It is hard to find words that adequately describe such low and despicable behaviour, disguised as journalism. I cannot conceive of anything more immoral, heartless or contemptuous to the feelings and circumstances of my family.”
Ben Stokes
(@benstokes38)
Stokes criticised the article as “the lowest form of journalism, focused only on chasing sales”, and asked people to respect his family’s privacy and right to home life.
“To use my name as an excuse to shatter the privacy and private lives of – in particular – my parents, is utterly disgusting,” he wrote.
The Sun has been approached for comment.