Rumbling on

"The Martin Bashir problem" continues. This week, we learnt that the BBC has offered compensation to former Royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, of around £100,000, for the way her name was traduced by the rogue reporter, with made-up lines about an abortion that Princess Diana clearly believed. 

This weekend, the Mail on Sunday devotes several pages to Bashir's role in an unbroadcast investigation for the BBC2 series Public Eye, commissioned by editor Nigel Chapman.  This story has been festering since 2004.  In August 1991, Michelle Hadaway says she gave some of her murdered daughter's clothing to Bashir and got a receipt. Four-year-old Karen had been sexually assaulted and murdered in a Brighton park in 1986, alongside Nicola Fellows.  Michelle was told the BBC would conduct new DNA tests on the clothes.

In 2004 a BBC spokesman said "We have only recently learnt that these items may have been in the possession of Public Eye in 1991. The BBC has made extensive inquiries to try to track them down without success. We will continue to look into this."

At that time, Bashir's agent, John Miles told the Daily Mirror that Bashir was "very concerned. The clothes were taken to this production meeting. Martin is doing everything he can to find them."

Now a recently-departed editorial standards supremo from the BBC, Paul Smith, is reported to be looking back at that 2004 investigation, and whether or not it really tried. 

The MoS helpfully reminds us that Jonathan Munro, who it believes to be in 'pole position' to run BBC News, played a key part in bringing back Bashir to his department, reporting on religion.