Bashir: Now Diana’s brother threatens a private prosecution
PRINCESS Diana’s brother has told Scotland Yard he is considering bringing private prosecutions over the Martin Bashir scandal surrounding her BBC Panorama interview.
Earl Spencer told a senior commander it was ‘absurd’ that the Metropolitan Police was not pursuing an investigation over potential criminal offences including forgery, blackmail and misconduct in public office.
Bashir, at the time a BBC reporter, showed Earl Spencer faked bank statements to gain an introduction to Diana and persuade her to give her landmark 1995 Panorama interview about the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles.
An inquiry found the BBC had covered up what it knew of his actions, and that its own internal investigation was ‘woefully ineffective’, while Prince William has said that the corporation’s failures contributed to his mother’s ‘fear, paranoia and isolation’ following his parents’ separation.
The Met Police said it would assess the findings of the report by retired senior judge Lord Dyson into the scandal, but announced last month that it had ‘not identified evidence of activity that constituted a criminal offence and will therefore be taking no further action’.
But Earl Spencer said he had received advice from two senior lawyers who believed there were potential offences to be investigated, The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday.
In an email to Commander Alex Murray, the Met Police’s lead officer for ‘specialist crime’, Diana’s brother criticised the force’s decision to take no further action.
He wrote: ‘I’m afraid this is absurd... Clearly forgery is in play here; as is the public office offence. I’ve read the Crown Prosecution Service explanation of both crimes online, and there can be no doubt on either point.
‘Further, as you know, I’ve been fortunate enough to receive the generous advice of two QCs who’ve each, independently, advised the same – and both of these are confident on the blackmail point, too.’
Earl Spencer asked who he could contact at the Met about his concerns, adding: ‘Or do I have to go to the trouble and expense of mounting private prosecutions?’
A private criminal prosecution raises the prospect of Bashir’s activities – and the subsequent cover-up at the BBC – being examined in a public courtroom. Fears about the Princess Diana interview were first raised shortly after it was screened, when whistleblowers at Panorama told senior executives about the faked bank statements.
Bashir later admitted to his bosses that the statements were mocked up, but denied he had shown them to Earl Spencer.
An internal inquiry led by Tony Hall, who was then head of news and current affairs and later became the BBC’s director general, concluded that Bashir was an ‘honest and an honourable man’.
Lord Hall has since admitted that the journalist should have been sacked, and has apologised for his handling of the scandal.
Bashir later became the BBC’s religion editor, but resigned from the corporation in May citing health reasons.
Earl Spencer has reportedly called for the Met to investigate possible misconduct in public office offences, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. In a letter to Earl Spencer last month, Commander Murray said the force had taken legal advice from senior prosecutors, including specialist Treasury Counsel, lawyers who advise government departments.
He wrote: ‘For misconduct in a public office, there is extensive case law that has been examined which describes what may and may not be governmental business and again we have sought advice and do not consider that a criminal offence has taken place by employees of the BBC.’
The BBC and the Metropolitan Police declined to comment.
The faked bank statements falsely suggested that Earl Spencer’s head of security, Alan Waller, was selling information to tabloid journalists.
He made an official complaint to Scotland Yard’s Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, accusing Bashir of ‘dishonest conduct’, and said the BBC had been aware his actions were unlawful.
The Met said it would assess his allegations, but later announced that it would take no further action. Mr Waller has also asked the BBC for £495,000 in compensation.
‘I’m afraid this is absurd’