By Victoria Mckeown-
The BBC is reportedly set to pay around £1.5m to a charity of the Royal Family’s choice in a bid to make amends for the Martin Bashir scandal is impressive, but not sufficient.
Bashir should be the subject of a criminal prosecution for fraudulent misrepresentation after, gaining from fraudulent act which benefited him financially, at the expense of members of the royal family.
The sum of money offered to a charity royal preference is from selling global revenues from the interview. Royal sources are still deciding how the money from the BBC will be spent.
It will be funded by BBC studios, the corporation’s commercial trading arm that not funded by the tax payer. The move at least saves the BBC’s face on what was a major scandal, and about which the main culprit was not fully held accountable.
The huge sum comes after an inquiry earlier this year found Mr Bashir, a former journalist for the broadcaster, used “deceitful behaviour” to secure a bombshell interview with Princess Diana, which included the use of fake bank statements.
Diana’s brother, Spencer, campaigned for the BBC to be held to account, after it emerged, he had been conned by Bashir who used fake bank statements to get him to lure the late Princess Diana to participate in an interview with panorama from which he benefited tremendously.
Bashir is believed to have escaped a criminal investigation because of his status in society. The Met Police has still not defended its decision not to press charges against the formerly well paid BBC presenter.
Prince William and Harry both criticized the BBC in the wake of the scathing report, which found the corporation “fell short of high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark” over the interview
Fraudulently Lured To Conduct Panorama Interview :Late princess Diana Image:woman at home.com
Prince William attributed his mother’s heightened “fear, paranoia and isolation” to the worsening of her relationship with his father, Prince Charles.
Now the revelation made in the Mail On Sunday of plans for a big pay out to a charity of the royal families choice is confirmation of the BBC’s full admission of wrongdoing by their highly paid employee, Martin Bashir.
The news follows earlier expectations in May that the BBC was due to pay one of its designers, Matt Wiessler, £1m. Wiessler had approached Beeb bosses to say he believed Bashir used the statements to trick Princess Diana into doing her tell-all 1995 Panorama interview with him. He hasn’t fully explained why he fell for the trick, when he has a brain of his own.
It is not clear whether the £1m payment has yet been made, but if it has, it has certainly been done quietly. Inquiries made to the BBC about this by The Eye Of Media.Com, is yet to be responded to.
An inquiry by Lord Dyson back in May concluded that Bashir had used “deceitful methods” to obtain the interview that there had been a “woefully ineffective” internal investigation.
It revealed that “rogue reporter” Bashir forged bank statements and spun wicked tales to win the vulnerable princess’s trust.
The independent probe by Lord Dyson also concluded then-BBC news and current affairs boss Lord Tony Hall and other executives whitewashed concerns over how Bashir bagged the scoop in 1995.
He commissioned fake bank statements to persuade her that officials were being paid by MI5 and the media for information about her.
Royal sources are understood to be involved in deciding how the money from the BBC will be spent.
It will be funded by BBC studios, the corporation’s commercial trading arm that is not funded by the tax payer.
Regret
After the report into the interview was released in May, Mr Bashir apologized and said he “deeply” regretted the fake bank statements.
Expression of regret has never been grounds to escape the full force of a criminal investigation, but no plans to bring the former BBC fraudster before a court has been made, despite Lord Hall referring to his actions as fraudulent in his latest report published this year.
The journalist – who stepped down from the BBC earlier this year citing health reasons – also said he felt the statements had “no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part”.
Bashir’s statement equally has no bearing in light of the facts, as Bahir has no way of proving that. Instead, it seems a convenient way of him trying to distance himself from the seriousness and criminal nature of his conduct.
That Bahir was not heavily fined or brought before a court furthers the views from ordinary people that two separate laws exist for the rich and members of the public. It simply beggars belief that a publicly known offence seems to have been treated according to different principles normally set in law.