A 23-YEAR-OLD person has claimed the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit photos broke Covid lockdown rules to meet them in February 2021.
In an interview with The Sun, the person claimed the presenter travelled from London to a different county to meet them at their flat in February 2021, when strict coronavirus lockdown rules were in place including a stay at home order and mixing only between household bubbles.
At the time of meeting, the country was in Tier 3, a “very high” alert over the virus.
The claims appear to be a separate person to the others who have made claims against the presenter, who has been suspended by the BBC. This would take the number of reported individuals up to three.
"He was always asking to meet and I found it quite pressurising. There were restrictions and they kept getting stricter but he constantly asked," they reportedly claimed.
They said the presenter was initially "nervous" about the restrictions but then became "persistent" and "demanding" about meeting, providing their availabilty around work.
A message on the 15 January 2021 - days after the third national lockdown was announced - allegedly read: "I've been as patient as I can. I’m not used to being turned down like this. Sorry."
The Sun reported it had seen messages from the BBC presenter to the 23-year-old suggesting that he had sent them cash and had asked for pictures.
The person told The Sun: “The BBC were briefing the nation on the rules — when their star who was part of the institution was quite happy to break them.”
The 23-year-old said they met the presenter in November 2020 on a dating site before moving to WhatsApp a month later.
They said the presenter stayed at their flat for an hour and also gave them more than £600 in three payments.
The young person told the newspaper: “He came round for an hour…. We just chatted. He was obsessed with me making him a cup of tea.”
The Sun said it had approached the BBC and the presenter for comment and would hand over evidence to the BBC’s investigation team.
The 23-year-old also claimed the presenter asked if next week was good to meet on December 18 2020, when restrictions meant a ban on households mixing indoors.
However, the young person claims he made “excuses not to meet him” until two months later.
The Sun first made allegations on Friday about the unnamed presenter, claiming a different young person was paid around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for sexually explicit images.
On Tuesday, BBC News reported a second person in their early 20s – who the broadcaster said is not connected to the person in the first report by the Sun – allegedly received threatening messages from the presenter.
According to the broadcaster, the presenter – who the BBC announced at the weekend has been suspended – met the young person on a dating app, not in person and asked the young person not to tell anyone.
The young person later posted online alluding to having had contact with the presenter and hinted they might name him.
The presenter then allegedly sent a number of “threatening messages”, which the BBC says it has seen and confirmed came from a phone number belonging to the unnamed man.
The BBC said the young person felt “threatened” by the messages and “remains scared”.
BBC News said it had contacted the presenter via his lawyer, but had received no response to the allegations.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article