BBC Presenter convicted of wasting police time
Television presenter Ray Gosling has been cconvicted of wasting police time after pleading guilty to the charge to Nottingham magistrates.
The charge was levied by police prosecutors who were led on a £45k wild goose chase when Gosling claimed in February to have conducted a 'mercy killing' of his Aids dying partner on the BBC’s Inside Out programme.
A six month investigation found no evidence that Gosling had killed anyone however.
Attempting to explain the false murder claim Gosling stated: “I said it out of my heart, out of my feeling for people who had told me their intimate private stories, and it got out of hand, I’m sorry.”
District judge John Stobart told Gosling: “You know the power of television celebrity and the trust the trust the public and television producers have in you. You have to match this with the responsibility of identifying and telling the truth to the public.”
Gosling was handed a suspended sentence and ordered to pay £200 court costs.