Diane Louise Jordan speaks out against harassment notices
- Published
Diane-Louise Jordan: "I've been on the most horrible three-year rollercoaster"
BBC presenter Diane Louise Jordan said she has had "a tough three years" trying to clear her name after being wrongly accused of harassment.
The ex-Blue Peter presenter said her career suffered after she was issued with a PIN (Police Information Notice).
She was given the PIN, sometimes called a Harassment Warning Notice, in 2014 for allegedly harassing the partner of her daughter's estranged husband.
Her accuser received a suspended 18-month prison sentence on Thursday.
Kayla Thomas was sentenced for perverting the course of justice. A spokesman for Cambridge Crown Court said Ms Thomas had given a false witness statement and was also subject to a three-month curfew.
Blue Peter star tells the Today programme that she felt "guilty until proven innocent" over harassment notice
The case has drawn attention to the issuing of PINs, which some claim are issued too frequently and without sufficient investigation.
Jordan, who currently co-presents the BBC's Songs of Praise, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she felt "guilty until proven innocent", adding: "It is a horrible thing to be hanging over you for three years, for something you know you haven't done."
Speaking to BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire programme, she said: "I'm still reeling from it now. My integrity has been questioned and my sense of trust has flown out the window."
The presenter said she had signed the notice because she thought she had "no option", without realising it would go "on some sort of record".
She said the issuing of the notice and the media coverage it generated had had a "detrimental impact" on her charity work.
'Can feel very unfair'
"Some of the charities I was working with I haven't heard from again," she told the BBC on Thursday.
Because signing a Police Information Notice does not mean admitting any wrongdoing, there is no right of appeal.
In 2015, a government report acknowledged that the lack of any procedure for appealing against a PIN "can feel very unfair to recipients".
"If somebody takes a dislike to you, they can make an allegation and you can be slapped with one of these notices," said Jordan.
"The notices last about a year, but I've since found out they can stay on your record for longer. The police are aware they are less than perfect."
Jordan presented Blue Peter from 1990 to 1996 and was its first black presenter.
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