Met Police ask BBC to pause inner investigation into presenter
T
he BBC has been requested to pause its investigation into allegations a BBC presenter paid a young person for express photos “while the police scope future work” following a gathering with the Metropolitan Police, the company has mentioned.
The BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team met the drive on Monday following The Sun newspaper’s report that the unnamed presenter paid a youngster round £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for express photos.
The presenter has been suspended by the BBC and a evaluate into the protocols and procedures round complaints has been ordered by the director-general Tim Davie.
A press release from the broadcaster mentioned: “As a result of this meeting, the BBC has been asked to pause its investigations into the allegations while the police scope future work.”
It added: “The BBC has processes and protocols for receiving information and managing complaints when they are first made. We always take these matters extremely seriously and seek to manage them with the appropriate duty of care.
“The events of recent days have shown how complex and challenging these kinds of cases can be and how vital it is that they are handled with the utmost diligence and care.
“There will, of course, be lessons to be learned following this exercise.
Davie said he has asked Leigh Tavaziva, the BBC’s Group chief operating officer, to assess whether its protocols and procedures are appropriate in light of this case, and report to the BBC Board on this in due course.
Speaking at a press conference about the BBC’s annual report, Davie said: “Of course there will be lessons to be learned, and how processes could be improved.
“Immediately I have asked that we assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation.
“We will take time to properly review the current protocols and procedures to ensure they remain sufficient based on anything we learn from this case.”
The BBC has additionally launched a timeline of occasions, saying a member of the family of the younger particular person first complained on May 18, once they went to a BBC constructing.
The following day they contacted BBC Audience Services and the main points of the claims had been referred to the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team, who assessed that the claims didn’t embrace an allegation of criminality, butnonetheless merited additional investigation.
The BBC mentioned subsequent makes an attempt to contact the complainant had been unsuccessful and whereas the Corporate Investigations Team had been resulting from return to the matter within the coming weeks, no further makes an attempt to contact the complainant had been made after June 6.
The case remained open all through, the BBC mentioned.
The Sun first contacted the BBC on July 6 in regards to the allegations they had been resulting from publish, which was the primary time Mr Davie or any government administrators on the BBC had been conscious of the case.
The claims made by The Sun contained new allegations, that had been completely different from the issues being thought-about by BBC Corporate Investigations, the company mentioned.
The younger particular person on the centre of the controversy has mentioned nothing inappropriate or illegal occurred with the unnamed presenter, though their mom reportedly stands by the claims.
In a letter reported by BBC News At Six, the younger particular person mentioned by way of a lawyer: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are ‘rubbish’.”
The authorized consultant additionally mentioned the younger particular person advised The Sun on Friday night earlier than the newspaper revealed the story that there was “no truth to it”, the BBC reported.
The lawyer reportedly known as the article on the entrance web page “inappropriate”, claiming within the letter that the mom and the younger particular person are estranged.
BBC News mentioned it doesn’t know the id of the younger particular person and has not spoken to them straight, however that the letter was despatched by a multinational regulation agency.
A spokesman for The Sun mentioned: “We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child. Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC.
“We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.”
The mom and stepfather of the younger particular person stood by their allegation, and questioned how their youngster might afford the lawyer, The Sun reported.