A criminal investigation could be in store for the BBC over claims the broadcaster hid damaging documents linked to the controversial interview between Martin Bashir and Princess Diana.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) last night said its criminal investigations team is reviewing a complaint that the BBC breached the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). There would be an unlimited fine for the BBC if it is found guilty.
Princess Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir has been a persistent source of controversy for the BBC after it emerged the interviewer had deceived the Princess of Wales to secure her agreement to do the show. Mr Bashir told her Prince William’s watch had been bugged to record her private conversations, which was not true.
He also falsified bank statements in order to convince Diana she could trust him. Following a Freedom of Information request in October 2020, the BBC revealed a huge dossier of memos and minutes from 1995 to 1996, detailing its own internal investigation into Mr Bashir’s interview.
However, several documents were reportedly not included in the dossier. The BBC said this was because Mr Bashir was “seriously unwell” and was unable to discuss the matter with them.
The journalist who made the FOI request, Andy Webb, wants to see the emails BBC managers sent each other about Bashir over a two-month period in 2020. The BBC disclosed a small number of messages to Mr Webb – but it has now emerged there were more than 3,000 emails.
The corporation has said these contained information that was either “irrelevant” or “legally privileged, but Judge Brian Kennedy ordered the BBC to release more emails.
He said the corporation had been “inconsistent, erroneous and unreliable” in the way it dealt with the initial request.
Mr Webb has now claimed the BBC breached Section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act.
This section makes it a criminal offence if an individual “alters, defaces, blocks, erases, destroys or conceals” information to stop it being disclosed by a public authority. The ICO has now confirmed it is examining his objection, once again placing the BBC under the spotlight.
Mr Webb said: “I’ve long suspected that what the BBC has done is more than a betrayal of trust. Now we may learn if this is true.”
Ex-ITN boss Professor Stewart Purvis, formerly of Ofcom, said: “It’s most unusual – possibly unprecedented – for the BBC to be the subject of such an inquiry.”
The Beebs said “all relevant documentation” it had was given to an inquiry into the Bashir scandal led by former Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson. A damning report from his investigation was published in 2021.
A spokesman said: “We reject these allegations entirely, including any suggestion the BBC has acted unlawfully. We have repeatedly set out to Mr Webb that Martin Bashir’s significant health issues prevented us from disclosing documentation in 2020, as we were unable to consult him on the substantive issues.”
