The Procurator Fiscal in Scotland has decided not to proceed against undercover BBC researcher Arifa Farooq for applying for jobs using her sister’s name, as part of an expose of the abuse of older people in a Panorama documentary.
The NUJ took up her case. Pete Murray, NUJ Vice-President and deputy Father of the BBC Scotland chapel, said: “It is an enormous relief for Arifa and her friends and family that the procurator has decided not to take this case forward.
“Arifa deserved praise for what she did not persecution. The Panorama programme was a classic example of investigative journalism at its best. It is important that journalists are able to go undercover when a story they are investigating is serious enough to warrant it.”
Faooq was arrested and questioned on 5 August in relation to allegations of making a false disclosure in the course of her investigation. The programme, Britain's Homecare Scandal: A Panorama Special, centred on an in-depth investigation of domiciliary care, provided in Harrow, York and South Lanarkshire.
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