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September 15, 2010

BBC voices regret over Gosling broadcast after guilty plea over phoney murder claim

By Dominic wireposts

The strange tale of Ray Gosling and the murder that wasn’t ended yesterday with him pleading guilty to wasting police time and receiving a 90-day prison sentence.

BBC presenter Gosling was arrested in February on suspicion of murder after claiming that he had killed his lover who was dying of Aids when he was interviewed for BBC East Midlands current affairs programme Inside Out. He was later charged with wasting police time after he admitted that he made the story up.

The BBC says it now regrets the broadcast.

The Telegraph quotes a BBC spokesman: “In light of the plea given in court we regret that we broadcast a claim by Ray Gosling which has effectively been withdrawn by him. We apologise to viewers and to those most closely involved for any distress this may have caused.

“The programme team took what practical steps they felt they could to verify his claim and of course they challenged him on it but Ray was adamant that he stood by his claim and wanted it to be broadcast.”

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