BBC presenter Giles Coren deletes two 'sick' tweets mocking death after huge backlash

BBC presenter and journalist Giles Coren has deleted two tweets he made mocking someone's death after receiving a huge backlash online.

The 51-year-old, who has been a restaurant critic for The Times since 1993, tweeted his reaction to the death of an unnamed person who he claimed had said "vile and hurtful things" about his family.

He later took down the tweet and posted a rephrased version, only to then delete the second tweet as well.

In screenshots showing his tweets, Coren had first written: "When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, 'I'm sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but can you f*** off on to hell now where you belong'?"

Giles Coren has been hit with backlash over his comments online (Dave Benett/Getty Images for The)

Coren has since deleted his tweets (Coren has since deleted his tweets)

The second tweet, posted yesterday, read: "When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, 'I'm sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but, HA HA HA HA HA HA'?"

Many users took Coren's tweets to be an attack on journalist Dawn Foster, who died suddenly on July 15 following complications related to long-term health problems.

Journalist Ash Sarkar retweeted a screengrab of Coren's second tweet and wrote: "Dawn Foster once said Giles Coren had a famous dad, and he never forgave her for it.

"No wonder it rattled him so much: a working class journalist, who had to fight for every scrap she got, called out the third-best Coren."

Another writer, Carl Kinsella, wrote: "I've tried to just log off and ignore it but Giles Coren openly laughing about the death of Dawn Foster has honestly put me through the wall.

"He won't even lose his job for it, and in a just world he would lose an awful lot more than that."

Author Séamas O'Reilly, who has written for the Observer and Irish Times, tweeted: "So glad that rampant cancel culture is definitely actually a real thing that exists, because it means we can all look forward to Giles Coren suffering even one tiny consequence for gleefully rejoicing in Dawn Foster's death."

The Mirror has contacted the BBC, News UK and Coren's reps for comment.