(Credit: Journalism.co.uk)

Andy Parkes, the editor of Gannett-owned UK Newsquest newspapers, claims the newspapers’ editorial recommending the death penalty to be re-instated in order to provide a “solution” to the riots in London, was all a joke, Journalism.co.uk reported.

Parkes commented that the editorial was “tongue in cheek,” “a bit of fun’ and “blown out of all proportion,” according to Journalism.co.uk. Suggesting people should be killed seems a slightly more than “tongue in cheek,” and perhaps not surprisingly, the editorial was unsigned. Parkes didn’t disclose who wrote it, according to Journalism.co.uk.