Scott Mills issues first statement since BBC firing
Broadcaster Scott Mills has broken his silence after being fired from the BBC.
Following his firing, which was made public on March 30th, it emerged that the Metropolitan Police had launched an investigation into Mills in 2016 in relation to historical sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16.
Mills was taken in for questioning in 2018, before the case was dropped in 2019 due to a lack of evidence.
Now, Mills has commented on the matter and his dismissal from the BBC, his employer since 1998, for the first time.
His statement began, “The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation.”
Mills continued, “In response to this the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me. An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018.”
He added of the investigation, “As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.”
Mills also stated he will not be adding further comment on the case, sharing, “Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed 7 years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.”
He concluded his statement by writing, “I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues, and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.”
Mills’ statement comes after the BBC confirmed that it was made aware of the police investigation into the broadcaster in 2017.
A spokesperson for the broadcasting corporation shared earlier today (April 1st), “What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March.”
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