Prosecutors believe BBC presenter lied about killing dying friend
Ray Gosling, 70, could be jailed for up to six months after prosecutors said they believe he lied during a documentary on death and dying.
The veteran broadcaster and gay rights campaigner recorded a programme in February in which he claimed to have smothered a friend as he lay dying in hospital.
Speaking after being summonsed by police in Nottingham yesterday, Gosling apologised but would not be drawn on whether or not he was telling the truth.
He could now face the bizarre situation of defending his actions by insisting he did murder the man.
In separate comments, his solicitor, Digby Johnson, said Gosling was the “author of his own misfortune” and he was glad “nobody has been killed”.
Gosling said: “I’m sorry if the police think they wasted their time. It was a small item on a regional TV programme Inside Out, in my country, the East Midlands, to my people, with whom I have had an intimate relationship. It got out of hand that winter evening.
“I had had a week or two talking to people who had told me of the pacts they had had – some fulfilled, with wives, lovers, husbands, who were dying in pain and some told me of pacts unfulfilled.
“I did not expect it to cause this fuss, I’m not joining any cause.”
Gosling said his confession was a “moment” with an intimate audience on an intimate programme.
“I know what some people say, that I said what I did for publicity to promote a book I’m writing. That is absolutely not true, I haven’t finished the book yet.
“Some people say I did it to revive a dying career. I didn’t.
“I said it out of my heart, out of my feeling for people who had told me their intimate private stories and it got out of hand and I’m sorry.”
Gosling will appear before magistrates in Nottingham next month, accused of wasting police time.
The decision follows a lengthy police inquiry during which he was interviewed several times on suspicion of murder.
Gosling apparently confessed during BBC East Midlands’ Inside Out programme and during news interviews the next day.
In the programme, Gosling said he smothered his partner because he was “in terrible, terrible pain”.
In the shock confession, Gosling broke down, saying: “I killed someone once. He was a young chap, he’d been my lover and he got Aids.
“In a hospital one hot afternoon, the doctor said ‘There’s nothing we can do’, and he was in terrible, terrible pain.
“I said to the doctor ‘Leave me just for a bit’, and he went away. I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead.
“The doctor came back and I said ‘He’s gone’. Nothing more was ever said.”
Gosling will appear before Nottingham magistrates on September 14.
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