Anthony Grey first rose to international attention in 1967 while serving as the Reuters correspondent in Beijing, where he was covering the mass upheaval that had begun the previous year.

Mao Zedong, the Communist leader, had called on China's youth to help him purge capitalist influences and bourgeois thinking in government, teaching, the media and arts, and to reinvigorate the revolutionary spirit.

Grey might not have been the most obvious target but on the night of August 18, 1967, a mob of around 200 Red Guards - as the young radicals were called - stormed his residence, forcibly dragged him outside and subjected him to 'jet-planing' - a punishing stress position which involved his arms being wrenched behind his back.

Accused of being a spy, he was imprisoned in the basement of the Reuters house for nearly 27 months.

Red Guards vandalised his home and hanged his cat in front of him, leaving its body on his bed.

Anthony Grey in Trowse (Image: Newsquest)

He later described writing poetry, short stories, crossword puzzles and secretly keeping a diary as methods of psychological survival.

His ordeal was initially highlighted in the press but the British Foreign Office then advised UK media, including Reuters, that publicity would not help his case.

This strategy was later abandoned and a flood of coverage eventually helped win his release in October 1969.

He had become a household name along with his mother, Agnes Grey, who had been thrust into the spotlight as she tirelessly campaigned for his release.

Anthony Grey with his mother and sister after his release (Image: Newsquest)

She was already well known in

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