Sacked presenter's behaviour 'escalated' - manager

A BBC manager has said she had "significant concerns" about a sacked presenter's behaviour on social media.

Jack Murley, from Bodmin, worked with BBC Radio Cornwall until 2023, when he was dismissed over his social media use.

At a tribunal in Exeter, he has denied any wrongdoing and claims he was discriminated against for being gay and being a union representative.

Emma Clements, executive editor BBC Radio Cornwall, was Mr Murley's manager from 2020 and said he showed "escalating behaviour".

In her written witness statement, Ms Clements said between 2021 to 2023 she was periodically made aware of something inappropriate posted by Mr Murley.

She said a pattern emerged where she would contact him to tell him to remove the posts.

Ms Clements told the tribunal that when she previously asked him to remove tweets "it was never a problem, he always used to bring them down".

During a call on 29 June 2023, where Ms Clements had asked him to remove a post, Mr Murley is said to have become "angry" and refused to delete anything.

Ms Clements said in her witness statement she was left "upset, physically shaking and feeling quite ill” after this.

She said she escalated the situation because it was the first time he had refused to remove a post, and she was concerned about him going on the radio, given his mood.

Mr Murley was dismissed from his BBC duties on 30 June 2023.

He told the tribunal on Wednesday that he was upset because he did not feel supported by BBC management over homophobic abuse and death threats he had received.

In response to this Ms Clements said: “I provided as much support as I could.”

She said: “He had regular one to ones with his line manager and an open line of communication with me.”

Discussing Mr Murley's social media posts, Ms Clements said: "I was concerned that a member of my team was not complying with the guidelines."

Nick Toms, representing Mr Murley, described one of his posts responding to homophobic abuse as “light hearted”. But Ms Clements responded that she had concerns about the language Mr Murley used.

She said: "There are not many occasions on a local radio station that we would discuss sexual behaviour."

Other posts by Mr Murley, which the BBC say breached its social media guidelines, related to the organisation's Local Value For All project launched in 2022, which involved changes to BBC local radio.

The guidelines ask for staff to be given "due impartiality" to posts and the NUJ gave similar guidelines to its representatives.

Mr Murley believed his responses were appropriate as a union representative.

Representing the NUJ at the tribunal, Raj Ford said there had been nothing wrong with Mr Murley's posts.

Ms Clements said he had showed "escalating behaviour" when expressing his views on this topic.

The tribunal continues.

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