By Patrick Sawer
BBC journalist Sally Chidzoy, who accuses the corporation of bullying her, arrives at her employment tribunal in Cambridge
A BBC reporter was subjected to a campaign of harassment and abuse after exposing links between her BBC boss and a charity funded by the Chinese government.
Sally Chidzoy, a journalist on the BBC’s Look East programme, says she was called a 'shih tzu' and a 'dangerous dog' during her two year ordeal.
She also alleges that she was falsely imprisoned during the same period.
Miss Chidzoy has now taken the broadcaster to an employment tribunal, which opened in Cambridge on Tuesday.
In a 55-page witness statement, Miss Chidzoy, who is still working for the BBC as home affairs correspondent for the East of England, makes a series of damaging allegations.
These include the claim that her manager was the press spokesperson for a Cambridge charity funded by the Chinese government, which she was investigating.
She also claims that the North Norfolk MP, Norman Lamb, attempted to interfere with a story she was pursuing about the then boss of the East of England Ambulance Trust.
Miss Chidzoy alleges that she was told by BBC bosses to hand over her phone after they suspected her of leaking an email Mr Lamb had sent and that they subjected her to “false imprisonment” when she refused to do so.
A BBC reporter was subjected to a campaign of harassment and abuse after exposing links between her BBC boss and a charity funded by the Chinese government.
Sally Chidzoy, a journalist on the BBC’s Look East programme, says she was called a 'shih tzu' and a 'dangerous dog' during her two year ordeal.
She also alleges that she was falsely imprisoned during the same period.
Miss Chidzoy has now taken the broadcaster to an employment tribunal, which opened in Cambridge on Tuesday.
In a 55-page witness statement, Miss Chidzoy, who is still working for the BBC as home affairs correspondent for the East of England, makes a series of damaging allegations.
These include the claim that her manager was the press spokesperson for a Cambridge charity funded by the Chinese government, which she was investigating.
She also claims that the North Norfolk MP, Norman Lamb, attempted to interfere with a story she was pursuing about the then boss of the East of England Ambulance Trust.
Miss Chidzoy alleges that she was told by BBC bosses to hand over her phone after they suspected her of leaking an email Mr Lamb had sent and that they subjected her to “false imprisonment” when she refused to do so.
The award-winning journalist was subsequently cleared of leaking Mr Lamb’s email to the press, but was disciplined for forwarding his email on to other BBC colleagues.
Miss Chidzoy also accuses the BBC of dismissing her concerns about her manager’s links with the Chinese government.
She claims that in August 2013 she was investigating a charity called the Centre for Business and Public Sector Ethics, which was receiving funding from the Chinese Government.
The "charity" was arranging a visit to Cambridge by members of the Chinese secret police.
But Miss Chidzoy says that when she phoned the charity’s director Rosamund Thomas for comment, she was told their press spokesperson was a woman called Nikki O’Donnell.
The revelation stunned Miss Chidzoy, as Ms O’Donnell was a news editor at Look East and her line manager in the corporation.
As a result Miss Chidzoy spiked the story because she said she could not seek comment from her own manager.
She said in her statement to the tribunal: “I was very concerned about potential legal issues including conflict of interest, the BBC’s reputation and for the BBC’s legal obligation to remain politically independent.”
Miss Chidzoy also accuses the BBC of dismissing her concerns about her manager’s links with the Chinese government.
She claims that in August 2013 she was investigating a charity called the Centre for Business and Public Sector Ethics, which was receiving funding from the Chinese Government.
The "charity" was arranging a visit to Cambridge by members of the Chinese secret police.
But Miss Chidzoy says that when she phoned the charity’s director Rosamund Thomas for comment, she was told their press spokesperson was a woman called Nikki O’Donnell.
The revelation stunned Miss Chidzoy, as Ms O’Donnell was a news editor at Look East and her line manager in the corporation.
As a result Miss Chidzoy spiked the story because she said she could not seek comment from her own manager.
She said in her statement to the tribunal: “I was very concerned about potential legal issues including conflict of interest, the BBC’s reputation and for the BBC’s legal obligation to remain politically independent.”
Miss Chidzoy says she spoke about this to O’Donnell, who told her she had declared her role at the charity to the BBC.
The BBC initially said they could not find the declaration, but later said she did not need to declare one.
Miss Chidzoy also claims that the BBC paid the same charity to facilitate a programme which BBC Look East transmitted from Shanghai.
The BBC initially said they could not find the declaration, but later said she did not need to declare one.
Miss Chidzoy also claims that the BBC paid the same charity to facilitate a programme which BBC Look East transmitted from Shanghai.
That payment was approved by Mick Rawsthorne, head of regional and local programming.
After Miss Chidzoy raised her concerns O’Donnell orchestrated a ‘campaign’ to undermine her.
This led to two years of bullying and isolation, in which her stories were frequently suppressed for reasons she was concerned by.
During this time, she was described as a 'crap journalist' in an email sent by O'Donnell to Mick Rawsthorne, head of region at BBC News, and seen by 16 other colleagues.
After Miss Chidzoy raised her concerns O’Donnell orchestrated a ‘campaign’ to undermine her.
This led to two years of bullying and isolation, in which her stories were frequently suppressed for reasons she was concerned by.
During this time, she was described as a 'crap journalist' in an email sent by O'Donnell to Mick Rawsthorne, head of region at BBC News, and seen by 16 other colleagues.
The tribunal is being heard at Cambridge Magistrates Court.
She also claims messages were sent calling her a 'shih tzu' and a 'dangerous dog' before being falsely imprisoned and ordered to hand over her phone on September 29, 2014.
She refused to do so as she felt it went against her ethics, the tribunal heard.
Miss Chidzoy's witness statement also referred to a BBC email leaked to the Mail on Sunday which she claimed was an attempt to politically influence stories she was working on.
She discovered correspondence sent from then health minister Norman Lamb to a member of her management using a personal email address.
She claims that ex-Met police populate the BBC Investigations Unit and she was made to feel like a criminal because of the 'intrusive forms' used to file information on her.
Disciplinary procedures against Miss Chidzoy ended in August 2015, when she was issued with a written warning that would be held against her for two years.
She is expected to provide evidence from five witnesses during the three-week tribunal, which began today, and in which numerous members of senior BBC management are expected to be called.
Miss Chidzoy joined the BBC in 1986 and was appointed home affairs correspondent in 1997.
She has won multiple awards for her investigative journalism and has spoken on modern day slavery at the United Nations in Geneva.
Miss Chidzoy's witness statement also referred to a BBC email leaked to the Mail on Sunday which she claimed was an attempt to politically influence stories she was working on.
She discovered correspondence sent from then health minister Norman Lamb to a member of her management using a personal email address.
She claims that ex-Met police populate the BBC Investigations Unit and she was made to feel like a criminal because of the 'intrusive forms' used to file information on her.
Disciplinary procedures against Miss Chidzoy ended in August 2015, when she was issued with a written warning that would be held against her for two years.
She is expected to provide evidence from five witnesses during the three-week tribunal, which began today, and in which numerous members of senior BBC management are expected to be called.
Miss Chidzoy joined the BBC in 1986 and was appointed home affairs correspondent in 1997.
She has won multiple awards for her investigative journalism and has spoken on modern day slavery at the United Nations in Geneva.
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