Tim Westwood: Publication Of BBC Probe Delayed Again Due To Ongoing Police Investigation

Publication of the BBC‘s probe into former DJ Tim Westwood has been delayed again due to the ongoing police investigation, the corporation has revealed.

The BBC ordered its own investigation almost two years ago and at that point said it was expected to take six months and would be published in full. However, the report has frequently been delayed as new evidence has come to light. Westwood has strongly denied wrongdoing.

A day before the publication of its annual report, the BBC said the Weswood probe has been completed but “is now at the stage of going through certain important legal processes before it is in a position to publish the findings.”

“The review team and the BBC Legal team have been liaising with the police in order to ensure that any steps taken (including publication of the report) do not have a negative impact on any ongoing police investigation,” said an update. “This is taking time.”

Gemma White KC, who has been overseeing the review, intends to update those who contributed before the BBC publishes, the statement added. It said another update would be provided if “for legal reasons there needs to be a more substantial delay before any publication.”

Westwood is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police over five alleged sex offenses, following BBC News and The Guardian reporting allegations from 18 women. The BBC has in the past declined to comment on whether Tim Davie, the Director General, was among those it questioned. The inquiry could raise awkward questions for Davie, who led the BBC’s radio division at a time when Westwood was on air between 2009 and 2012. Back in 2022 and just months after Davie said the BBC had “seen no evidence of complaints” against the former Radio 1 DJ, the corporation then said it had received six complaints over alleged bullying and sexual misconduct.

The DJ was an influential force in the hip-hop music scene over a 20-year BBC career before he left in 2013.

The inquiry, which has searched through 50,000 documents and cost £3M according to a BBC News report, has already been delayed after a new phoneline prompted “significant new information,” White previously said.