Complaint
A viewer complained that it was inaccurate for the presenter to have said the Prime Minister had broken the law (in connection with the police having issued him with a fixed penalty notice for breaching Covid restrictions), as it was for the courts, not the police, to determine whether the law had been broken.Β The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The Government website for the relevant legislation explains that βA fixed penalty notice is a notice offering the person to whom it is issued the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty to a local authority specified in the noticeβ.Β Fixed penalty notices are issued on the premise that an offence has been committed, and accepting the penalty (rather than taking the opportunity of challenging it in court) can normally be construed as admitting to the offence.Β As the Prime Minister had not only accepted the penalty but also offered a βfull apologyβ and expressed respect for the outcome of the police investigation, the ECU saw no reason to depart from the normal construction in this instance, and consequently found no breach of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs editorial standards of accuracy.
Not upheld