Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand

Jonathan Ross was suspended by BBC for making obscene phone calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs. Ross and comic Russell Brand had violated BBC code of conduct and right to privacy of individuals. Both had outraged licence-fee payers. They had called Sachs to tell him that Brand had slept with his granddaughter Georgina Baillie.

Brand quit his BBC radio show after the sick prank last month. BBC’s governing body claimed today that the action taken against the duo was right and truly appropriate. Regarding Jonathan Ross’s suspension Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said that BBC’s director general had taken the right action with regard to Ross, who was suspended without pay for three months.

Ross will be able to resume his services at BBC from January when his suspension ends. Sir Michael Lyons said : “We have underlined very clearly that it is not the job of the Trust to make decisions about the terms and conditions of performers or the sanctions that are applied to them when they are found to be wanting.

“We are very clear that the director general has taken the right action with respect to Jonathan Ross.” The Trust said the material broadcast on Brand’s Radio 2 show was a “deplorable intrusion” into the private lives of Mr Sachs and Miss Baillie. The Trust further elaborated that there was no need for the content to be broadcast as it had no “editorial justification” and neither any “informed consent obtained” for which the messages were aired. Andrew Sach’s wife Melody said Ross and Brand “picked on the wrong man” for their prank. The Trust said that there was no need or any valid point to justify the airing of the messages that were left on the answerphone of the 78-year-old actor.

The Trust’s report into the scandal and the hearing today made things look clear. Mrs Sachs said the family was “tired” of the so-called “Sachsgate” affair, but said they had “no bitterness at all” towards the BBC presenters. “Andrew has got nothing to say,” she said.

For now scores are settled and Ross can look forward to his return to work and his second innings with the BBC when his current three-month suspension without pay is up in January. A prank went too far to cost his job and Jonathan Ross would sure be a more presentable presenter in the future. That is what we can hope !

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