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March 19, 2010

BBC apologises over ‘Mr Plod’ caption for pic of dead policeman

By Dominic wireposts

The BBC has apologised after a captioning error which saw it label a photo of dead PC Ian Terry, Mr Plod. The photo appeared during the Six O’clock news. PC Terry was killed in a shooting and his inquest is currently ongoing.

The Telegraph has chapter and verse on this story. It quotes editor of BBC News and Six and Ten James Stephenson:

“In the BBC News at Six we mistakenly used an image of the late Pc Ian Terry. Pc Terry was a firearms officer with Greater Manchester Police. He was killed during a training exercise in June 2008.

”His photograph was used in a report looking at the impact of unemployment on different sectors of the economy. The intention was to use images of individuals which are cleared for this kind of use. Instead an image of Pc Terry was used. We have taken steps to ensure the error is not repeated.

”I would like to apologise unreservedly for the mistake and for any distress caused to Pc Terry’s family, friends and colleagues.”

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