The BBC sacked Scott Mills after discovering that the alleged victim in the police investigation into him was under 16 at the time of the alleged offences, according to reports. The 53-year-old DJ was taken off air last week and fired on Friday over allegations related to his personal conduct.
It emerged this week that Mills was questioned by police over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16 in 2018, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. The BBC confirmed it knew about the police investigation in 2017 but said it acted decisively after receiving new information in recent weeks.
In his first statement since his sacking, Mills said: 'The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation. 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.'
The Metropolitan Police launched its investigation in 2016 over allegations relating to offences said to have taken place between 1997 and 2000. Mills was questioned under caution in July 2018 and denied the claims. The case was closed in May 2019 after the CPS advised that the evidential threshold had not been met.
A BBC spokesperson said: '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 added that it was doing more work to understand what was known by the corporation at the time of the original investigation.
