BBC presenter row: Jeremy Vine says unnamed BBC presenter could be sacked

The presenter at the centre of recent claims about his behaviour could be sacked now that fresh allegations have been made, Jeremy Vine has said.

Speaking on his Channel Five show, Vine - unconnected to the claims - urged the presenter to name himself, saying he needed to "look at the damage".

The BBC and the Sun published new claims following the original allegation that the presenter paid a young person for explicit photos.

The BBC has suspended the presenter.

The initial allegations, first reported by the Sun on Friday, were that the presenter paid a young person for explicit photos, beginning when they were 17.

The paper quoted a mother as saying her child, now 20, had used the money paid for explicit photos to fund a crack cocaine habit, and she was worried they could "wind up dead".

A lawyer for the young person has since said the accusations were "rubbish" but the family are standing by the account.

On Tuesday, the BBC published an investigation in which an individual in their 20s said they said were sent abusive and menacing messages by the presenter.

The Sun then published another story claiming the presenter broke Covid lockdown rules to meet a 23-year-old he had met on a dating site, and sent what they described as "quite pressurising" messages.

The paper claims the presenter travelled to another county to meet them at their flat in February 2021, despite national lockdown restrictions.

It said it had seen messages suggesting that as well as visiting the 23-year-old's home, he sent money and asked for a photo. He was sent a semi-naked photograph.

The Sun has also published what it says is an Instagram chat between the presenter and a 17-year-old, where the presenter sent messages including love heart emojis.

The now 22-year-old told the paper: "Looking back now it does seem creepy because he was messaging me when I was still at school."

The BBC has not been able to verify these messages.

BBC Radio 2 host Vine is one of several high-profile stars at the corporation who say they have been falsely accused of being the presenter at the centre of the claims by people on social media.

On Tuesday, he said the BBC "is on its knees", but added that the decision over whether or not the presenter should identify himself publicly is ultimately the presenter's "decision and his alone".

Appearing on his programme on Channel Five on Wednesday, Vine said: "Look at the damage to the BBC, look at the damage to his friends."

He said the unnamed presenter could not "remain anonymous for ever" while continuing to work for the BBC and he felt it was in the presenter's interest to speak publicly.

"I think he needs to. He will have to answer this, and what's happening is all this stuff is aggravating with no response."

He added: "I know the individual concerned and I am very worried about his state of mind and what this is doing to him."

He added the recent allegations made him think BBC director general Tim Davie "could sack him".

Following a virtual meeting between corporation executives and detectives on Monday the BBC was asked to suspend its internal investigation into the matter.

The Met Police said it was reviewing the claims "to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed".

If the presenter obtained sexually explicit images of a young person when the young person was under 18, that could be investigated as a possible criminal offence.

A police force has confirmed it was contacted by the family in April and that "no criminality was identified".

The new allegations came after the BBC published an updated timeline detailing its response to the original claims against the presenter.

It revealed that the BBC made just two attempts to contact the family of the young person at the centre of the allegations after the complaint was first made, despite judging it to be very serious.

The BBC said it had been contacted by the family, but received no response to a follow-up email. A phone call also failed to connect.

The Sun then approached the corporation with new claims.

At a press conference on Tuesday, before the emergence of the new claims, BBC director general Tim Davie said the presenter was not spoken to until last Thursday - seven weeks after the first complaint was made to the corporation.

The Sun has declined a request from BBC News for an interview with a representative, and did not answer a series of questions about the story, including what evidence it had seen for the claims.

The presenter is not being named because of concerns about defamation and breaching his privacy.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme on Tuesday afternoon - prior to the emergence of the new allegations - Mr Davie said the corporation's investigations team "needed to balance the concerns of duty of care and privacy."

He continued: "You don't take that complaint directly to the presenter unless it has been verified.

"It is right to validate that and to have the specialist team talk to the individual before taking it forward."

But he said he wanted to examine whether the BBC raises "red flags quick enough" about complaints of this nature, and said an internal review would take place.

In the same interview, Mr Davie also said he:

At a virtual press briefing relating to the publishing of the BBC's annual report, the director general said: "Any affair of this nature is serious.

"Trust is absolutely fundamental to the BBC. It is too early to say how this impacts the BBC in terms of trust."

This timeline of events laid out by the BBC conflicts with the Sun's initial report that the BBC did not call the family after the initial complaint was made.

In the paper's report on Monday, it was stated: "The family say no-one from the corporation rang them for a proper interview after the initial complaint."

However, this appears to be contradicted by the Sun's latest interview with the parents of the young person, in which the step-father is quoted as saying allegations were put to the BBC "for an hour".