The BBC spent £310,000 on private investigators between 2005 and 2011, director general Mark Thompson has revealed at the Leveson inquiry.
Thompson admitted at the inquiry on Monday that the BBC had used the convicted investigator Steve Whittamore and that the corporation has sought to get confidential information from the DVLA concerning the owner of a vehicle.
He said he believed there was a “strong public interest justification” for using Whittamore, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to illegally obtaining and disclosing information under the Data Protection Act.
The investigator was used by the BBC in 2001 when it was researching whether paedophiles convicted in the UK were able to or getting jobs where they would have access to or contact with children in other countries. At the time the corporation needed to establish whether “a known paedophile” was on a particular flight.
Thompson told Lord Justice Leveson the corporation had also used private investigator on one occasion to establish the ownership of a vehicle. Again, Thompson said the journalist involved “genuinely believed and with good reason that he was following someone who was involved … in a serious criminal conspiracy” and this justified the request for confidential information.
Tags: BBC, Leveson Inquiry, Media, Privacy Breach, Private Detective, Private Investigator, UK
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