BBC silent on future role for commentator guilty of fraud
BBC Northern Ireland was staying tight-lipped last night on the future of regular talk show contributor Adrianne Peltz, who pleaded guilty this week to defrauding animal charity the Dogs Trust of more than £5,000.
Peltz, who has appeared on the Nolan, Nolan Live and Vinny Hurrell shows for the corporation, admitted fraud by abuse of position at the dog welfare charity.
The State broadcasting corporation refused to comment on whether the high-profile campaigner Peltz would still be welcome on its programmes, despite her guilty plea.
Her lawyer said discussions had been ongoing relating to the exact amount of money involved in the fraud and he said the figure had now been “amended” to £5,393. No other figure has yet been mentioned in court.
The fraud by abuse of position charge relates to dates between April 10 and October 12 in 2017.
The full details of the case have yet to be outlined to the court and the matter was adjourned until September for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Peltz was the Dogs Trust campaigns manager for Northern Ireland at the time of the fraud, but she no longer works for the organisation
Asked yesterday whether it would continue to use Peltz as a contributor to its programmes following her admission of fraud, BBC Northern Ireland issued a terse one-line statement.
“We have no comment to make at this time,” a spokesman said.
The high-profile campaigner has been connected with several well-known campaigning organisations and lobby groups, including Amnesty International, student organisation the NUS-USI, public affairs group Politics Plus, as well as serving on the board of Victim Support, an independent charity supporting people affected by crime.
Last night the campaigner’s profile and picture had been removed from the website of Politics Plus, and from the website of Victim Support.
It’s understood she has resigned from Politics Plus.
Following Thursday’s court hearing, Victim Support NI said in a statement: “The Board of Victim Support NI are aware of the situation and are taking appropriate steps in line with our code of conduct.”
A Page one plug yesterday stated that self-confessed fraudster Adrianne Peltz “escorted” Prime Minister Boris Johnson and DUP leader Arlene Foster during a visit to Stormont. We would like to make clear that Mrs Foster has never met, nor spoken to, Peltz and was unaware she was being photographed with her.