Wednesday 25 March 2015

Jeremy Clarkson Could Face Police Action

North Yorkshire Police has asked the BBC for its report on the Jeremy Clarkson incident which happened at a hotel in the county and said action will be taken "where necessary".
Earlier the BBC announced that the Top Gear presenter's contract will not be renewed after he was involved in what the broadcaster called a "fracas" with producer Oisin Tymon.
Director general Tony Hall said the decision had been taken with "great regret".
He said: "It is not a decision I have taken lightly."
Mr Hall said he had met and spoken to both men and was publishing the findings of the BBC's internal investigation, though he added that he took "no pleasure" in doing so.
The investigation found that Mr Tymon was "subject to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Jeremy Clarkson" and took himself to A&E after being left with a split lip.


It said the attack lasted around 30 seconds and only stopped when a witness intervened.
In a statement North Yorkshire Police said it "is liaising with the BBC regarding the alleged incident in North Yorkshire involving Jeremy Clarkson".
"We have asked the BBC for the report which details the findings of their internal investigation into the matter.
"The information will be assessed appropriately and action will be taken by North Yorkshire Police where necessary."
Speaking after the decision was announced, Mr Tymon said: "I've worked on Top Gear for almost a decade, a programme I love. Over that time Jeremy and I had a positive and successful working relationship, making some landmark projects together.
"He is a unique talent and I am well aware that many will be sorry his involvement in the show should end in this way."
In his statement Mr Hall said: "I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff - who is a completely innocent party - took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature.
"For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations."


It said the attack lasted around 30 seconds and only stopped when a witness intervened.

Speaking after the decision was announced Mr Tymon said: "I've worked on Top Gear for almost a decade, a programme I love. Over that time Jeremy and I had a positive and successful working relationship, making some landmark projects together.
"He is a unique talent and I am well aware that many will be sorry his involvement in the show should end in this way."
In his statement Mr Hall said: "The BBC is a broad church. Our strength in many ways lies in that diversity. We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price. Common to all at the BBC have to be standards of decency and respect.
"I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff - who is a completely innocent party - took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature.
"For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations."


The report said "verbal abuse was directed at Oisin Tymon on more than one occasion - both during the attack and subsequently inside the hotel - and contained the strongest expletives and threats to sack him. The abuse was at such volume as to be heard in the dining room, and the shouting was audible in a hotel bedroom."
Mr Hall said "no blame" was attached to Mr Tymon, who, he said, "behaved with huge integrity throughout".
Clarkson's Top Gear co-presenter James May told Sky News he had not been told the news officially but that it was a "tragedy".
"What ought to have been a small incident, sorted out easily, turned into something big."
He said he was sure Top Gear would "continue in some way" but could not say if he would stay because the presenters, along with Richard Hammond, "come as a package".
"It works for very complicated reasons that a lot of people don't fully understand. So that will require a lot of careful thought," he added.
Hammond tweeted: "Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We're all three of us idiots in our different ways but it's been an incredible ride together."


Clarkson and his co-hosts were scheduled to take part in four live Top Gear shows in Norway this week, but it was announced on Sunday that they had been postponed.
All three men's contracts run out at the end of this month and Hammond and May's future is still unclear, though Mr Hall said the BBC wanted to "renew" the show for next year.
Clarkson has not commented publicly but has changed his Twitter profile to: "I used to be a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show, Top Gear".
May also changed his to say "former TV presenter".
It is not known if Clarkson, who has made a number of previous gaffes on Top Gear, is in talks with any other television companies.

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