Outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie has said it became ‘very clear’ Scott Mills had to go after the corporation received ‘new information’ that a sexual offence investigation into him involved a person under 16.
Mills, 53, was investigated then cleared over allegations of historic ‘serious sexual offences’ against a boy between 1997 and 2000.
The BBC admitted it was aware of the investigation into the Radio 2 star in 2017 – before sacking him last week after learning the alleged victim was under 16.
Davie, who became director general in September 2020, said today: ‘We’re trying to act fairly.
‘It was new information quite recently that we received that made it very clear about the decision we had to make.’
Davie is being replaced by Rhodri Talfan Davies for the next six weeks, before former Google executive Matt Brittin takes over on May 18.
Davie said Mills’ sacking ‘was a real shock to the organisation’, adding: ‘When something happens where I think there’s a lot of grief, there’s a lot of shock, I think all I would say is we’re trying to act as the leadership with kindness.’
Mills, who would have been 24 at the time of the allegations in the late 1990s, was interviewed under caution in 2018 but the case was rejected by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2019 due to a lack of evidence.
Scott Mills, 53, (pictured) was investigated then cleared over allegations of historic ‘serious sexual offences’ against a boy under the age of 16 between 1997 and 2000
Tim Davie (pictured) said it became ‘very clear’ Scott Mills had to go after the corporation received ‘new information’
BBC management is going through emails and HR records from the time before speaking to staff about what they knew about the Met Police investigation and whether they knew the complainant was a child.
The BBC finally admitted on Wednesday that it was aware of the police probe at the time – but took no action until it received ‘new information’ recently.
Hours later, in an extraordinary statement issued via his lawyers to the Daily Mail, Mills then broke his silence to admit he was the subject of the investigation and did not deny the allegations, before thanking fans and former BBC colleagues.
He insisted he ‘fully cooperated and responded’ at the time of the police probe. But he did not not address the allegations and did not offer a denial.
His full statement read: ‘The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation. In response to this the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me.
‘An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018.
‘As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.
‘Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed seven years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.
‘I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.’
In a statement issued on Wednesday, a spokesman for the BBC said: ‘Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.
‘What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday, March 27.
‘The BBC has made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards. Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear that action would be taken if these were not met.
‘Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made.
‘We are doing more work to understand the details of what was known by the BBC at this time.’