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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Steve Messham apologises to Lord McAlpine over abuse claims | Steve Messham apologises to Lord McAlpine over abuse claims |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| A former resident of a North Wales care home has apologised for wrongly claiming that the Conservative peer, Lord McAlpine, had sexually abused him. | A former resident of a North Wales care home has apologised for wrongly claiming that the Conservative peer, Lord McAlpine, had sexually abused him. |
| Steve Messham, a victim of sexual abuse in care homes in North Wales in the 1970s, issued a statement on Friday evening in which he said that his claim was based on a case of mistaken identity | Steve Messham, a victim of sexual abuse in care homes in North Wales in the 1970s, issued a statement on Friday evening in which he said that his claim was based on a case of mistaken identity |
| "After seeing a picture in the past hour of the individual concerned, this [is] not the person I identified by photograph presented to me by the police in the early 1990s, who told me the man in the photograph was Lord McAlpine," he said. | "After seeing a picture in the past hour of the individual concerned, this [is] not the person I identified by photograph presented to me by the police in the early 1990s, who told me the man in the photograph was Lord McAlpine," he said. |
| "I want to offer my sincere and humble apologies to him and his family." | "I want to offer my sincere and humble apologies to him and his family." |
| Messham was interviewed for an item on BBC Newsnight which was broadcast on Friday last week. Although it did not interview McAlpine, it was introduced with the words: "this man says a leading Conservative from the time was one of his abusers". | Messham was interviewed for an item on BBC Newsnight which was broadcast on Friday last week. Although it did not interview McAlpine, it was introduced with the words: "this man says a leading Conservative from the time was one of his abusers". |
| The name of the Tory peer and former party treasurer, who now lives in Italy, swiftly began circulating on the internet. | The name of the Tory peer and former party treasurer, who now lives in Italy, swiftly began circulating on the internet. |
| McAlpine finally broke his silence this morning to say that reports linking him to North Wales child abuse are "wholly false and seriously defamatory" – and to also say that he had only been to Wrexham on one occasion. | McAlpine finally broke his silence this morning to say that reports linking him to North Wales child abuse are "wholly false and seriously defamatory" – and to also say that he had only been to Wrexham on one occasion. |
| BBC sources have said that executives and journalists involved with the BBC2 programme, fronted by Jeremy Paxman and Kirsty Wark, concluded that there was no need to contact the peer before broadcasting the anonymised accusations because Newsnight had no intention of naming him. | BBC sources have said that executives and journalists involved with the BBC2 programme, fronted by Jeremy Paxman and Kirsty Wark, concluded that there was no need to contact the peer before broadcasting the anonymised accusations because Newsnight had no intention of naming him. |
| Had Newsnight done so, they might have heard Lord McAlpine's denials. Another journalist, Michael Crick, from Channel 4 News, spoke to the peer twice on 2 November – and was told that McAlpine had only once been to Wrexham, the town where the abuse was alleged to have taken place. | Had Newsnight done so, they might have heard Lord McAlpine's denials. Another journalist, Michael Crick, from Channel 4 News, spoke to the peer twice on 2 November – and was told that McAlpine had only once been to Wrexham, the town where the abuse was alleged to have taken place. |
| Meanwhile Conservative MP Rob Wilson has written to the chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, asking him to explain what steps it had taken to establish the true identity of the man who abused Mr Messham. | Meanwhile Conservative MP Rob Wilson has written to the chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, asking him to explain what steps it had taken to establish the true identity of the man who abused Mr Messham. |
| "What steps did the BBC take to verify the accuracy of Mr Messham's allegations against the man variously described as a 'leading Conservative from the time', 'leading Conservative politician from the Thatcher years', 'senior public figure', 'prominent Tory politician', or 'senior Tory politician', and to check concerns about mistaken identity?" he wrote. | "What steps did the BBC take to verify the accuracy of Mr Messham's allegations against the man variously described as a 'leading Conservative from the time', 'leading Conservative politician from the Thatcher years', 'senior public figure', 'prominent Tory politician', or 'senior Tory politician', and to check concerns about mistaken identity?" he wrote. |
| He also wrote to the regulator, Ofcom, asking whether it believed there were grounds for investigating whether the BBC had given the man concerned an "appropriate and timely opportunity to respond" before the allegations were broadcast by Newsnight. | He also wrote to the regulator, Ofcom, asking whether it believed there were grounds for investigating whether the BBC had given the man concerned an "appropriate and timely opportunity to respond" before the allegations were broadcast by Newsnight. |
| "If the BBC did not do this, would Ofcom consider this a breach of section 7 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code?" he wrote. | "If the BBC did not do this, would Ofcom consider this a breach of section 7 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code?" he wrote. |
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