I have received the following letter of apology from the head of BBC Scotland, Ken MacQuarrie, in relation to its scoop about Abdelbaset’s personal life, which was based on unauthorised use of the SCCRC report.
Dear Mr Ashton
Thank you for your email of 6 March. I have now had the opportunity to consult with the various parties involved, within the BBC, and subsequently to consider their input in respect of the points which you raise in your complaint.
I apologise for the breach in the spirit of our agreement with you, concerning further publication of information contained within the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) Statement of Reasons. I recognise that this document was passed to BBC Scotland in order to allow the contents of the documentary ‘Lockerbie: the Lost Evidence’, broadcast on BBC One Scotland on Monday 29 [sic] February 2012, to be fact-checked and complied.
I am happy to assure you that, in the short term, we will not publish further details from that report unless circumstances around the story change and we believe there is strong public interest in doing so.
I understand that it is your opinion, as it is ours, that the SCCRC report should be published in full. I hope that, in the light of this letter, you will agree to meet with our production team to discuss matters further and to allow an opportunity for discussion on any issues that you may feel that we should address.
Thank you for contacting me on this matter. Should you wish further to escalate your complaint, you may do so by contacting the BBC Trust. The Trust can be contacted at: BBC Trust, 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W SQZ or you can e-mail them at: trust.enguiries@bbc.co.uk Details of the BBC complaints processes can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
Yours sincerely
Ken MacQuarrie.