BBC breached accuracy rules after it failed to mention 'don't f*** with cats' ... trends now
The BBC breached its own accuracy rules after it failed to mention that murderer and cat killer Scarlet Blake was a trans woman in initial reports of her conviction and sentencing.
The broadcaster received a wave of complaints about how Blake's trans identity was not mentioned in an online article on February 23 and during the BBC News at One bulletin three days later.
The reports referred to Blake - who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Jorge Carreno in Oxford in 2021 - as a woman and used she/her pronouns.
In a ruling published yesterday, the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said it 'considered that the omission of such information in the two instances specified by complainants, in a context where it had become material to an understanding of the case, amounted to a breach of the BBC's standards of accuracy'.
But the complaints were 'resolved' not 'upheld' according to the ECU, because the online article was changed within an hour of publishing and a notice regarding the TV report was posted on the BBc website.
Scarlet Blake, pictured in August last year, was convicted at Oxford Crown Court
BMW worker Mr Carreno (pictured) had been on a night out when he was approached by Blake
The BBC breached its own accuracy rules after it failed to mention that murderer and cat killer Scarlet Blake was a trans woman in initial reports of her conviction and sentencing
The unit said that the 26-year-old's trans identity became known to the BBC when it was mentioned by the defence during the trial on February 19 - four days before the first complained-about report.
It added that that 'police made no reference to it [Blake's gender identity] in their pre-trial briefing, it formed no part of the prosecution case, and Blake was referred to as a woman throughout the court proceedings'.
The decision by the ECU comes after Harry Potter JK Rowling hit out at media reports that classed Blake as a woman.
Sharing a post by Sky News on X, the author used the caption: 'I'm sick of this s***. This is not a woman. These are #NotOurCrimes.'
The headline by Sky News read: 'BREAKING: A woman who filmed herself killing a cat before putting the animal in a blender has been jailed for life for murdering a man four months later.'
Award-winning journalist Louise Tickle, who was written for The Guardian for over 20 years, also boycotted the newspaper after it initially failed to tell its readers that Blake was transgender in an article covering the case.
In a letter to the editor of The Guardian, Ms Tickle said she would not be contributing to the newspaper until it could 'demonstrate' what 'constitutes a fact' and 'stops deceiving its readers'.
Blake stalked and killed 30-year-old Jorge Martin Carreno (pictured) in July 2021
Scarlet Blake pictured in Intrusion nightclub in Oxford
She explained that upon reading the article about Blake last week, she was left unaware that Blake was a 'male killer' because the word 'transgender' was not included in the piece.
The Guardian
