The Times newspaper has taken down an online article described as "pointlessly cruel" for writing about rock musician Nick Cave's interest in violent movies in connection with the tragic death of 15-year-old son.
The piece, which was branded "disgraceful" by other journalists and commenters on Twitter, appeared in print on page 19 of today's newspaper, but the online version has been removed after the paper admitted it was "inappropriate."
Nick Cave's son Arthur died after falling 60ft down a cliff near his home in Brighton on Tuesday evening. Cave has paid tribute to his "beautiful and loving" child and asked for privacy after his loss.
Tragic death: 15-year-old Arthur Cave
In an article on Friday headlined: 'Let your children feel fear, Cave urged before son's death', The Times reported that the musician had "watched violent films with his children".
Alongside a description of how Arthur died, it added that Cave's sons were "shown sitting alongside their father watching Scarface" in a documentary released in 2014.
Using quotes from a recent magazine interview with the Australian rocker, The Times article said that he had watched "a lot of super violent stuff" with his sons, was "known as the Prince of Darkness because of his obsession with death and violence."
Nick Cave, best known for being the frontman of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, is mourning his son
The piece - which has the bylines of two journalists - added that Cave spoke about his belief that it was important to "stand back" and let children experience fear.
A spokeswoman for The Times told The Huffington Post UK: "We published a story about Nick Cave and his son in the paper today, which we later decided was inappropriate. We have now removed it from our digital platforms."
Friday's article came a day after the paper wrote another article (£), using the same quotes and saying that Cave was "renowned for his lyrical obsessions with death" and "wrote The Proposition, a film about a man who must kill his older brother, a psychotic renegade wanted for murder and rape".
Critics online hit out in disbelief at the paper, saying it should be "deeply ashamed" of its coverage of the grieving father:
Shame on @thetimes for printing needless rubbish about Nick Cave as a parent in the aftermath of the death of his son.
— James. (@vessel_deserted) July 17, 2015