More BBC secrecy in lost clothes case
THE BBC came under fire last night after refusing to reveal details about its search for the bloodied clothes of a murdered schoolgirl that were lost by reporter Martin Bashir.
The Corporation rejected a request by this newspaper under Freedom of Information laws for documents from its internal inquiry into the disappearance of clothes worn by Karen Hadaway.
Karen and her friend Nicola Fellows, both aged nine, were murdered in Brighton in 1986 in what became known as the Babes In The Wood killings. In 1991, Bashir persuaded Karen’s mother Michelle to hand over the clothes after promising to subject them to DNA tests – but they went missing and have never been returned.
The BBC launched an inquiry in 2004 to find the clothes but the MoS revealed last month that the Corporation failed to speak to Bashir directly. Key journalists who worked alongside him, and the reporter’s agent, also said they were not contacted.
Director General Tim Davie said it was ‘incorrect’ that BBC investigators did not contact ‘individuals who might have known where the clothing was’.
But the BBC has now rejected a request to release its files showing exactly what steps it took to find the clothes. ‘The information you requested is held for the purposes of “art, journalism or literature”,’ the BBC said. ‘The Act provides that the BBC is not obliged to disclose this type of information.’
Karen’s mother Michelle described the decision as ‘disgusting’. ‘If they are not trying to hide something, this Freedom of Information request should be made available,’ she said.