Former journalist wins damages from BBC over TV phone-in scam

Friday 7th March 2008, 12:00AM GMT.

A FORMER Jersey Evening Post journalist has received ‘substantial damages’ and an apology from the BBC after it broadcast footage that might have led television quiz show viewers to believe that he was in some way involved in a deception ‘scam’.

Leigh Petters, who worked for the newspaper from 1994 until 2002, is now a criminal defence solicitor based in Bristol.

He agreed to a settlement at the end of last week, and the deal included the BBC meeting Mr Petters’s legal costs.

He said that legal reasons prevented him from making any detailed comment on the outcome of the civil libel action he initiated in the High Court in London.

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