Questions for the Sun over BBC presenter story

As claims and counter-claims surrounding a BBC presenter proceed to predominate the headlines, determination are inactive galore questions astir what happened and however the communicative has been handled.

On Friday, the Sun paper reported that the unnamed BBC property had been accused of paying a young idiosyncratic tens of thousands of pounds for explicit images, starting erstwhile they were 17.

There are inactive fewer steadfast facts, however. One country nether scrutiny is however the Sun has reported the story.

1. What grounds has the Sun seen that the young idiosyncratic sent explicit photos to the presenter erstwhile they were 17?

The Sun primitively reported the presenter gave the teen "more than £35,000 since they were 17 successful instrumentality for sordid images".

In much caller stories, its connection astir this item has subtly changed, with 1 caller study saying: "It is understood interaction betwixt the 2 started erstwhile the youngster was 17 years old."

But did that archetypal interaction impact explicit photos? The property is simply a important constituent of the communicative due to the fact that if specified images were exchanged earlier the teen was 18, that could beryllium a transgression offence.

On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that sources astatine the Sun were "distancing themselves" from the archetypal enactment astir the property and were "claiming the communicative was not truly astir imaginable transgression activity".

"Instead, they suggest it was much astir acrophobic parents trying to halt payments to a susceptible kid with a cause habit," the Guardian reported.

2. Did the Sun effort to interaction the young idiosyncratic earlier publication?

The lawyer for the young idiosyncratic said successful a statement: "Nobody from the Sun paper appears to person made immoderate effort to interaction our lawsuit anterior to the work of the allegations connected Friday 6 July."

The superior sources successful the Sun's aboriginal stories were the parent and stepfather, who it said had fixed sworn affidavits.

The young idiosyncratic tried to interaction the Sun themselves connected the evening the paper published its archetypal story, to archer them that it was "nonsense", their lawyer aboriginal said.

Some person suggested the paper did effort to interaction the young idiosyncratic anterior to publication.

Former Sun exertion Kelvin MacKenzie told BBC Radio 5 Live: "They person been trying to interaction the kid for ages, and successful the end, abruptly the young idiosyncratic pops up retired of the woodwork and says 'This is each untrue', and funnily capable replicates those statements 48 hours aboriginal [via] costly lawyers."

3. Once it had the young person's denial, wherefore didn't the Sun adhd that to the story?

The young person's lawyer said the idiosyncratic sent a denial to a Sun newsman by WhatsApp connected Friday evening to archer them the connection his parent had made was "totally incorrect and determination was nary information successful it".

Nonetheless, the lawyer said, the paper proceeded to people "their inappropriate article".

This raises the question of wherefore the Sun didn't see the denial successful its story, fixed that the young idiosyncratic is cardinal to the communicative and it would beryllium mean journalistic signifier to see cardinal accusation from idiosyncratic successful specified a position.

"If you've got an alleged victim, and that unfortunate has made interaction with you and said there's thing successful this story, and you tally the communicative without including that, that's beauteous extraordinary," erstwhile BBC ineligible analogous Clive Coleman told 5 Live connected Tuesday.

But MacKenzie said the paper's reporters whitethorn not person been prepared to springiness value to "a WhatsApp retired of obscurity saying 'this is each cobblers'" astatine precocious announcement earlier publication.

In a connection connected Monday, the Sun said: "This has ever been a communicative astir acrophobic parents trying to halt payments to their susceptible kid which was backing a life-risking cause habit."

4. Why did the Sun not sanction the presenter?

The paper has not explained its determination to support the presenter anonymous successful their stories.

It volition person been apt to person weighed up its grounds of wrongdoing, and whether that was beardown capable to sanction the antheral successful the nationalist interest.

The Sun said the communicative "was ever squarely successful the nationalist interest", adding: "That is beyond quality present arsenic explosive caller claims are reported by the BBC itself."

It continued: "Here was a almighty household name, handsomely salaried via the licence fee, allegedly paying £35,000 to a susceptible young idiosyncratic with a past of cause usage who was sending him intersexual pictures. That alleged maltreatment of powerfulness is cardinal to this scandal."

But determination are almighty ineligible reasons wherefore naming the presenter could origin large problems. Legally, everyone has a "reasonable expectation" of privacy, and defamation instrumentality protects people's reputations from unsubstantiated allegations.

"We've had 5 days of headlines from the Sun and each time they person chosen not to name," BBC location and ineligible analogous Dominic Casciani said connected Wednesday.

"I deliberation the crushed is... due to the fact that of this tremendous imaginable hazard that if thing successful this is wrong, determination could beryllium a imaginable defamation lawsuit there. But besides determination could beryllium a abstracted lawsuit alongside it for an penetration of privacy, due to the fact that there's a existent hazard that that's wherever the courts volition go."

5. Why aren't Sun unit members doing interviews?

The Sun has addressed its presumption successful people and successful statements, but exertion Victoria Newton and the reporters who worked connected this communicative person not done immoderate interviews.

The BBC has approached the Sun respective times with a assortment of interrogation requests and invitations to look connected respective programmes. The Sun person truthful acold declined those requests.