The BBC has suspended the unnamed presenter accused of paying a teenager thousands of pounds for sexually explicit photos.
In a statement, the broadcaster said: “The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.
“This is a complex and fast moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps.
“It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care.
“We have been clear that if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up.
“The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols.
“We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.
“We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC Board will continue to be kept up to date.”
The brother of TV presenter Phillip Schofield forced a teenage boy to watch pornography and sexually abused him, a court has heard.
Timothy Schofield is accused of carrying out 11 sexual offences between October 2016 and October 2019 – the most serious charge involving a sex act with the child.
The 54-year-old civilian police worker denies three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child.
The accuser told Exeter Crown Court that he felt “emotionally blackmailed” by Schofield into taking part in sex acts.
Image: Phillip Schofield did not appear on his ITV show on Tuesday
The complainant said “emotionally there was no escape from what we had to do” and there was a “tremendous amount of pressure and expectation for me to fulfil what was being asked and wanted”.
“I felt that that was why I was feeling forced to participate.”
Schofield “does not dispute” that he and the complainant watched pornography together and that they would “masturbate” when they did so, but disputes “when it started”, according to Schofield’s lawyer Peter Binder.
The complainant told the court he was around 13 when Schofield’s alleged offending started.
But Mr Binder said: “It is his [Schofield’s] case that you have exaggerated the length of time that this practice went on for, that it only lasted 18 months or so from when you were 16 to roughly 17 and a half and that is right, is it not?”
The complainant replied that the lawyer’s claim was “completely incorrect and false”.
The court previously heard Schofield, from Bath, carried out the alleged attacks while working for Avon and Somerset Police as an IT technician.
His brother Phillip Schofield, 60, did not appear on Tuesday on his ITV show This Morning. The studio said he is taking “pre-planned leave” this week.
A series of vigils were held across the country on Friday night to remember Brianna Ghey, the 16-year-old who was stabbed to death last weekend in Warrington, Cheshire.
Hundreds of people gathered at Culcheth Village Green close to where Brianna, a transgender girl, was found with fatal stab wounds on a path in a park on 11 February.
The vigil was attended by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and his daughter Annie. Mr Burnham was brought up in the village.
“Here to remember Brianna, send our love to her family and support to young trans people everywhere,” he tweeted.
Many of those at the vigil – one of dozens around the UK – wore “Rest in power Brianna Ghey” T-shirts as crowds sang Over The Rainbow.
Tricia Anderton, 59, the secretary of Culcheth Village Choir, said: “We were very proud to play even just a small part of this evening’s vigil for Brianna.
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Brianna’s friends ‘sick and in disbelief’
“We are a very close community in Culcheth, with many of our choir members having lived in the village for many years and this awful tragedy has touched the hearts of everyone.
“We were asked specifically to sing Over The Rainbow, and it was so lovely to hear everyone joining in.
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“Our thoughts and prayers are with Brianna’s family and friends.”
Hundreds of people also gathered outside the Hippodrome Theatre in Birmingham, and other vigils took place in Southampton, Nottingham and Edinburgh.
Image: Brianna Ghey was found with fatal stab wounds in a park in Warrington on 11 February
Meanwhile in a statement, Brianna’s family said they were “overwhelmed” by the “support, positivity and compassion” shown across the country.
Further memorials are planned over the weekend, with another in her home town of Warrington on Saturday afternoon.
A boy and a girl, both aged 15, have been charged with her murder – they appeared via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.
A teenager has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker during a protest outside a Merseyside hotel housing asylum seekers.
Fifteen people were arrested outside the Suites Hotel in Ribbers Lane, Prescot, on Friday evening as a police van was set on fire and missiles, including lit fireworks, were thrown at officers.
Jarad Skeete, 19, was among those held and has now been charged with violent disorder and assault by beating of an emergency worker.
Mr Skeete, with an address at Irwell Close in the Liverpool suburb of Aigburth, was remanded in custody and will appear at Wirral Adult Remand Court on Monday.
The remaining 14 people arrested at the protest have been conditionally bailed pending the outcome of police enquiries.
Two women and 12 men between the ages of 13 and 54 were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.
Merseyside Police is appealing for information but said in a statement today that “we would remind people to pass this information directly to police as social media speculation and comment can jeopardise live investigations”.
A demonstration outside the Suites Hotel turned violent on Friday evening when a police van was hit with hammers and set on fire.
Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said officers had been made aware of rumours on social media prior to the protest about about an alleged incident “when a man made inappropriate advances towards a teenage girl”.
The chief constable however stressed that there was an investigation ongoing and warned that misinformation could harm its outcome.
Image: Knowsley, Merseyside
Politicians from all parties criticised the violence. Home secretary Suella Braverman condemned the “appalling disorder”, saying: “The alleged behaviour of some asylum seekers is never an excuse for violence and intimidation.”
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The shameful and appalling scenes in Knowsley show how far-right groups are using social media to organise and promote violence.
“The Home Secretary is wrong to dismiss far-right threats for political reasons. Instead she should be championing vigilance against all kinds of extremism,” she said.
A vulnerable teenage girl died after becoming morbidly obese and forced to live in conditions “unfit for any animal”, a court has been told.
Kaylea Titford, 16, was living in “squalor and degradation” when she was found dead by paramedics at her home in Powys, Wales, in October 2020, jurors heard.
Prosecutors say her parents “seriously neglected” their daughter, who weighed almost 23st and had a body mass index of 70.
They ordered takeaways five times a week, including Chinese and Indian food and kebabs.
Her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, has admitted manslaughter by gross negligence.
But her father, Alun Titford, 45, denies the same offence and is standing trial at Mold Crown Court.
Kaylea used a wheelchair from a young age due to health conditions including spina bifida, a spinal defect, and hydrocephalus, which causes a build up of fluid on the brain.
She was described as “funny and chatty” by staff at her secondary school in Newtown.
But she was confined to her home after the COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020.
Vulnerable girl depended entirely on others for her care
Six months later on 10 October, Lloyd-Jones called the emergency services who arrived to find Kaylea lying on filthy “puppy pads”.
She had dirty and matted hair and ulcerated skin and had not been properly washed for weeks.
Milk bottles filled with urine were found where she slept, with police describing an “unbearable” rotting smell and maggots and flies on her body.
Ms Rees said: “Kaylea Titford was living in conditions unfit for any animal, let alone a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who depended entirely on others for her care.
“The prosecution say that the scene – as witnessed by those that attended – together with the state in which Kaylea’s body was found demonstrate clearly that this vulnerable girl, who relied heavily on others for her welfare needs, was seriously neglected by not just one but both of her parents, who owed her a duty of care.”
Pathologist Dr Deryk James ruled the teenager died due to “inflammation and infection” arising from being obese and immobile, jurors heard.
Simple tasks such as changing Kaylea’s socks regularly appeared to have been ignored, according to forensic podiatry specialist, David Blake.
Image: Alun Titford said he was ‘not a very good dad’ when questioned by police, jurors heard
During his police interview, Titford said he was “not a very good dad” and claimed Lloyd-Jones cared for their daughter and did the housework.
He said Kaylea had outgrown her wheelchair – but added he had not seen her out of bed since the lockdown.
When questioned about when he last asked Kaylea how she was, Titford replied: “I didn’t ask her. Like I say, I’m not the best of people.
“Nobody ever thinks their child is going to end up like that.”
Titford also denies an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues on Thursday.
Two men who stabbed a teenager and left him effectively dead for nearly an hour have been sentenced to life in prison.
James Bascoe-Smith was 17 when he was assaulted last year, leaving him using a wheelchair and struggling to communicate.
James was surrounded by family and friends at the Old Bailey as his two attackers were sentenced for conspiracy to murder.
Leon Rashid, 20, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 14 years and Taiquane Lewis, 19, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 13 years.
Rashid had also been found guilty of having an offensive weapon.
The judge said it was a “carefully planned attack”.
“You chose an entirely innocent teenager, James who had nothing to do with 410 (gang) and was simply testing a bicycle to make sure it was safe for his mum to use.
“Had it not been for the medical intervention, this would have been a murder trial.
“He is a shadow is his old self and will never be able to lead a normal life again.”
A third defendant, Stephanie Paez-Lopez, 20, was cleared of assisting an offender by helping to get rid of a Range Rover used in the attack.
Image: James Bascoe-Smith
Victim video called his mother as he effectively died
James was knocked off his bike, which he was test riding for his mother, and knifed by masked men in Brixton, south London, on 23 February last year.
He video-called her from his mobile phone as he lay on the ground and effectively died in the street near his home before he was saved in hospital.
he spent 174 days in hospital before he was allowed to return home, where he continues to work on his recovery – achieving 100 sit-ups in his wheelchair.
‘Since the attack my life has changed’
In a pre-recorded video played during the hearing, James asked why the defendants targeted him and whether they now “feel bad”.
“When I was stabbed by these people I remember crying out for my mum and pleading for them to stop,” he said.
“I do not remember much and I could not communicate for six months after the attack.
“Since the attack my life has changed.
“They have stopped me from driving, going on my first holiday with my friends to celebrate my 18th birthday, gymnastics coaching, working and from becoming a music producer as I was studying this in college.”
He described moving away from Brixton, leaving behind friends, neighbours and “everyone that I knew”.
He added: “I now need a carer full time, they are complete strangers to me who come in to provide me my personal care, to feed and clothe me.
“I cannot get out of bed on my own, I can’t even brush my own teeth and I need a lot of medication to help me with my recovery.
“I have been left in a wheelchair that is not electric, I rely on everyone to move me, I have no independence.
“I now have a brain injury because my heart stopped for nearly an hour, I don’t think I will ever be able to work or study again.
‘I just want to know why they attacked me’
“I was very active before the attack, I was very involved in my community and helping my family, I would pick up my little cousins from school help them with their work and I would coach them at gymnastics.
“I did not deserve this, I had no issues with anyone, I don’t know why they attacked me, I just want to know why they attacked me and if they feel bad for what they have done.”
He said: “I am grateful that the doctors saved my life but living like this is hard, I miss my friends, I miss my old life, every day I wake up knowing this is how I will be forever.”
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, James’s aunt Rachel Duncan said: “James was fortunate to have survived, however he has been left with severe life-changing injuries.”
She added: “This should not have happened and I urge people who carry knives to stop. Please stop.
“The trauma caused to my nephew and my family mean we are now living with the impact of knife violence forever.”
