BBC may face prosecution for naming boys charged with murder

‘I must not treat it as contempt of court but I must pass the matter to the Chief Crown Prosecutor’

THE BBC could be prosecuted for broadcasting the names of two juveniles charged with murder during a news bulletin.

The identities of the teenagers, aged 15 and 17, were revealed on BBC South Today at 6.30pm and 10.30pm in violation of an order providing them with anonymity. They had been charged with killing Robin Williamson, 43, who was attacked with a weapon in Wood Farm, Oxford, last year.

The teenagers are due to go to trial in January 2021.

Judge Ian Pringle ruled at Oxford Crown Court yesterday that the BBC had breached Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. He said: “On July 31, those two young men appeared in front of me for a preliminary hearing.

“The prosecution indicated that there was an order preventing anything leading to the identification of these young men and I simply said I would make a fresh order.

“However, on the BBC news bulletin at 6.30pm and 10.30pm the names of the two young men were given along with their ages and their whereabouts, which is a clear breach of that order. At first, I thought it was a clear contempt punishable with a fine of any amount.

“However, with further research, it is a breach and I must not treat it as contempt of court but instead I must pass the matter to the Chief Crown Prosecutor,” the judge added.

Ben Gallop, representing the BBC, said: “The BBC is proud of its rigorous standards and this matter is one of great regret. All BBC South Today journalists will be receiving refresher training for court reporting and they will review the training already undertaken and if [there is] anything else which could be done it will be done.

“The BBC sincerely apologises and offers the reassurance that it will not be repeated.”