The Guardian News & Media management has apologised to a former journalist, Lucy Siegle, who complained of sexual harassment at work by a former political columnist, Nick Cohen. 

The Guardian’s editor-in-chief Kath Viner and the chief executive of GNM, Anna Bateson, sent the email, tendering an apology to Ms Siegle.

“Everyone should feel safe at work and in the presence of their colleagues, and the incident you describe is absolutely unacceptable,” the email stated. 

It added, “We know you feel very badly let down by GNM and that you have not felt confident in speaking to the company in the past about what happened to you.”

Ms Siegle made an official complaint about Mr Cohen in 2018, alleging that he grabbed her bottom in the newsroom. 

However, The New York Times conducted an investigation last month in which seven other women complained of being harassed by Mr Cohen both inside and outside the workplace.

The management also informed the staff that the investigation would be conducted by third parties rather than top management staff. 

The company’s spokesman said the newspaper had sent similar apologies to several other women named in the Times’ report.

On Monday, Ms Siegle took to her Twitter page to express her relief after the organisation acknowledged her complaints and tendered an apology on Mr Cohen’s behalf.