The Independent is presenting this in a surprisingly sensational and tabloid style. Has the paper changed in recent years? I remember it being a reasonably well respected news source.
The "i" has replaced it in print (highbrow tabloid)- independent.co.uk has been reduced to a website that drives traffic towards itself largely through clickbait/tabloid-style reporting.
It's still on a different level to dreck like the Daily Mail, but it's long since slipped from its old status as a respected broadsheet.