The sudden death last week of a Jewish academic who was 'remorselessly bullied' on social media after he was accused of anti-Semitism by former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen, is to be investigated by a coroner.
Peter Newbon, 38, a humanities lecturer at Northumbria University, was found dead last Saturday following a Twitter 'pile-on' - where a large group attacks a smaller group, or one person - which had left him feeling under pressure, according to friends, the Daily Telegraph reported.
A row had erupted last year when Dr Newbon, a father-of-three, re-posted on Twitter an already doctored image of Jeremy Corbyn reading one of Mr Rosen's best-selling books to schoolchildren.
The original photograph showed the ex-Labour leader reading from We're Going On A Bear Hunt.
However, the photoshopped version saw Mr Corbyn holding Protocols Of The Meetings Of The Learned Elders Of Zion - a notorious hoax text first published in Russia in 1903 which claimed to outline a plan for world Jewish domination.
The sudden death last week of a Jewish academic who was 'remorselessly bullied' on social media after he was accused of anti-Semitism by former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen, is to be investigated by a coroner. Peter Newbon (pictured with his wife, Dr Rachel Hewitt), a humanities lecturer at Northumbria University, was found dead last Saturday following a Twitter 'pile-on'
Dr Newbon, a director of the Labour Against Antisemitism activists group, wrote above the tweeted image: 'Oh no! A nasty, horrible Zionist! We can't go over him, we can't go under him, we'll have to make an effigy.'
The 'can't go over/ can't go under' phrasing mimics the style of writing used in We're Going On A Bear Hunt.
Dr Newbon had intended it as a satirical swipe at Mr Corbyn, who, in October 2020, was the first ex-Labour leader to ever be suspended by the party - after he downplayed a damning report into anti-Semitism that ruled it illegally harassed and discriminated against Jews under his leadership.
Pictured, children's author Michael Rosen. A row had erupted last year when Dr Newbon, a father-of-three,
