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February 27, 2009

Oxford student editors resign in Lecher row

By owenamos

The editors of Oxford University’s student newspaper, Cherwell, have resigned after a spoof edition that mocked the Holocaust, and compared former editors to paedophiles, was published.

It is traditional to publish a spoof edition at the end of each term.

Around 50 copies of the most recent spoof, called the Lecher, were handed out in November.

But now, the Lecher has become public – and featured a former editor in a Ku Klux Klan outfit, plus faces of former contributors pasted on pornographic images.

Elsewhere, the Lecher suggested bagpipes were used to torture Jewish children during the Holocaust.

Editors Sian Cox-Brooker and Michael Bennett have resigned, after it was demanded by publishers Oxford Student Publications.

Both, though, insisted the lecher had nothing to do with them, as they were not editors in November.

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