Police reopen Big Brother racist probe

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Shilpa was the victim of abuse by her Big Brother housemates in January.

Officers are waiting to see footage of contestants making up a limerick about Shilpa Shetty referring to the word "Paki".

The re-opening of the case is based on a tape that was withheld from the original police investigation.

• It will pose a serious threat to bosses at Channel 4 - including chief executive Andy Duncan - and Big Brother producer Endemol.

•Questions are being asked about whether the new series, due to start on Wednesday, can go ahead.

•There is also the possibility of charges against Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd who were accused of leading a campaign against the Bollywood actress.

The investigation was closed in March because police had not been told about the tape. Hertfordshire police said: "If further material does become available to us, we will examine it and make any decisions in liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service."

A report by media watchdog Ofcom accused the broadcaster of "serious errors of judgment".

The channel has already stepped in to veto three contestants put forward by Endemol to try to keep the next shows scandal-free.

The row erupted during the series in January when 46,000 people complained about the alleged bullying. O'Meara was heard saying all Indian people "are skinny because they get sick through eating undercooked food".

Two days later Lloyd said that Shetty should "f**k off home" and Goody branded her "Shilpa Poppadum". It became an international incident with effigies of Goody being burned in India.

What the viewers did not see was a 1am conversation between O'Meara, Goody and her boyfriend Jack Tweed, where they tried to find rhymes for happy, tacky and nappy while talking about Shetty.

A spokesman for Endemol said: "It took place late at night and no one noticed that it had happened. It was a serious human error and we hold up our hands to it."

As soon as senior staff were informed, formal warnings were issued to O'Meara and Tweed. Goody had already been evicted. Channel 4 could face accusations of misleading the public over the existence of the material.

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Transcripts revealed Jade Goody, boyfriend Jack Tweed, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O' Meara made up a racist limerick about Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty which made reference to the racial slur 'Paki'

Yesterday it was revealed Channel 4 has been ordered to make grovelling apologies for its catastrophic handling of the Big Brother race row.

The television watchdog, Ofcom, has found it guilty of "serious editorial misjudgment".

It said the network broke broadcasting laws on three occasions by airing the racist insults made towards actress Shilpa Shetty.

Channel 4 was also accused of trying to cover up the worst of the bullying, after investigators uncovered unseen footage of housemates alluding to the word "Paki".

While escaping a huge fine, it will have to screen an apology three times - before the start of the opening episode of Big Brother 8 next Wednesday, again at the start of the repeat the next morning and also before the first eviction show.

The action follows more than 46,000 complaints about the treatment of Miss Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother in January.

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Attack: Jade Goody verbally abuses Shilpa.

In the ruling it said: "Channel 4 failed sufficiently to address the potential for offence or left this behaviour unchallenged. This resulted in offence being caused to a very large number of viewers."

It was revealed that the unseen footage showed the three girls and Goody's boyfriend, Jack Tweed, making up a limerick about Miss Shetty - in which they joked about using a word which rhymed with "tacky".

Big Brother producers asked Miss O'Meara and Mr Tweed into the Diary Room and told them: "It is clear that this was a reference to the racial insult 'Paki'."

Channel 4 claimed it had not been aware of the incident until several days after it occurred.

Critics have suggested that if the footage had been revealed at the time then the broadcaster would have had to take more immediate and stronger action than it did.

Ofcom apparently decided not to impose a financial penalty because the broadcaster had not been "repeatedly reckless" over a long period.

C4's chief executive, Andy Duncan, admitted that it had on occasions not ensured Big Brother had intervened with the necessary "promptness" and "strength".

An internal inquiry into the incident found that behaviour during the controversy had appeared to condone the racist incidents by failing to "intervene forcefully".

He said: "We would like to say sorry once again for the offence caused to viewers."

But, he added: "I don't think this is a resigning issue - we are not going to single someone out for blame - this was human error."

C4 has introduced a "tough" interventions policy for the show. It is also going to launch a Right to Reply-style programme.

Yesterday Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: "Public service broadcasters hold a very special place of trust with the British people and it is right that they are held to account by the regulator when there are issues of public concern."

 

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