THE EDITOR OF The Daily Telegraph in Australia has issued an apology after a photoshopped image was used to illustrate a story about the resignation of a Sydney Morning Herald columnist.

The composite image of SMH columnist Mike Carlton was made using part of a photo of Boston bombing victim James Costello, along with Carlton’s face and an Arab headdress.

Carlton is depicted staggering away from a war zone scene under the headlines ‘Imploding. Always’ and ‘Mad Mike Goes to War’.

Carlton resigned from the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday night after he was told he was being suspended for using “inappropriate” and “offensive” language towards readers.

The Twitter account @TheMurdochTimes was among the first to highlight the use of the Boston image in the Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph’s double page spread about Carlton’s resignation had already resulted in a strong reaction on social media, reports The Guardian.

Daily Telegraph editor Paul Whittaker issued a statement from the paper’s Twitter account:

The photoshopped image was an amalgam of different images put together during the art production process. I was unaware that particular image had been partially used. It is an inadvertent but regrettable mistake for which The Daily Telegraph apologises unreservedly.

James Costello pictured at a Boston rehabilitation hospital in May 2013 AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Read: The Telegraph hastily change unfortunate front page headline-photo combo>