Ben Stokes attacks 'despicable' Sun story about family tragedy

The England cricketer Ben Stokes has described a front-page article in 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 number 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.”

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 article described in detail events in New Zealand 31 years ago, before he was born, when his mother’s ex-husband killed their two children before taking his own life.

Stokes said a reporter had turned up at his parents’ home in New Zealand “out of the blue” to ask them about the tragedy. The Sun reported that the couple and the cricketer had declined to comment.

In his statement, Stokes said his own public profile was not an excuse to “invade” the rights and privacy of his family members. He added: “This is the lowest form of journalism, focused only on chasing sales with absolutely no regard for the devastation caused to lives as a consequence. It is totally out of order.”

Tom Harrison, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, also condemned the decision to publish the article.

“We, like the wider sporting world, are disgusted and appalled at the actions taken in revealing the tragic events from Ben’s past. We are saddened that an intrusion of this magnitude was deemed necessary in order to sell newspapers or secure clicks,” he said.

“Ben’s exploits this summer have cemented his place in cricket’s history. We are sure the whole sport, and the country, stands behind him in support.”

There was also support for Stokes from other cricketers and fans on Twitter. The England test captain, Joe Root, retweeted his teammate’s statement and urged people to “please take the time to read this and respect it”.

Hacked Off, the campaign for media accountability, said: “This is an appalling invasion of privacy with no public interest justification. We have been told repeatedly by newspaper editors that ‘everything has changed’ since the Leveson report seven years ago. It is abundantly clear that nothing has changed. Some newspapers are just as incapable of abiding by principles of human decency and basic journalistic ethics as they were during the phone-hacking scandal.”

A spokeswoman for the Sun said: “The Sun has the utmost sympathy for Ben Stokes and his mother but it is only right to point out the story was told with the cooperation of a family member who supplied details, provided photographs and posed for pictures. The tragedy is also a matter of public record and was the subject of extensive front-page publicity in New Zealand at the time.

“The Sun has huge admiration for Ben Stokes and we were delighted to celebrate his sporting heroics this summer. He was contacted prior to publication and at no stage did he or his representatives ask us not to publish the story.”

Stokes is the runaway favourite to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December, having helped England win the World Cup in July before playing a starring role in the drawn Ashes series.

His unbeaten 135 to turn what looked like certain defeat into a memorable one-wicket third Ashes test win over Australia at Headingley was hailed as one of the greatest batting displays of all time.

Twelve months ago, Stokes was cleared of affray at a court in Bristol after a high-profile trial that followed a late-night brawl.