Channel 4 News falsely identified Westminster attacker
Channel 4 News has been left red-faced after its senior home affairs correspondent, Simon Israel, sensationally broke the news that the prime suspect in yesterday’s Westminster terror attack was Trevor Brooks aka Abu Izzadeen – only for it to subsequently emerge that he is currently serving time at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
The embarrassing faux pas came after Israel repeated unsubstantiated claims made by a single unnamed source, forcing the reporter into a swift reversal by admitting that ‘It may be that we’re not as certain about identity of the attacker as we thought.’
Upon further investigation Israel conceded his error in a tweet, admonishing himself to his followers:
The source I trusted, but ultimately I made a mistake. This time I got it wrong. Abu Izzadeen is in prison.
— simon israel (@simonisrael) March 22, 2017
The gaffe has immediate repercussions for Channel 4+1 with panicked schedulers pulling the programme off air to avoid sowing further confusion amongst the public, displaying a static ‘We are temporarily unable to show the scheduled content on +1 at this moment’ test card in its stead.
In a statement Channel 4 News has said it is ‘currently looking into’ the matter.
Israel’s initial comments were widely reported with BBC politics reporter Andrew Neil re-tweeting the claims, prompting much soul searching amongst journalists about the need to avoid rushing to conclusions even in the fast-paced environment of a live terrorist incident.