Claudia Lawrence, a university chef who went missing 14 years ago and is presumed dead, has still been receiving demands for her TV licence fee at her former cottage in York, her heartbroken mother says. Joan Lawrence, 79, is growing increasingly distressed by the continued badgering from the BBC and has called in the police to intervene.
Despite her efforts to stop the letters, the BBC has ignored her requests and even threatened legal action and a fine.
Joan has been keeping the cottage in memory of Claudia, since her ex-husband’s death in 2021, reports The Sun.
She said: “One threatened court action and a £1,000 fine. It’s unbelievable and needs to stop.
“I’ve written to them to tell them what’s happened, and the police are supposed to be sorting it out, but the letters still come.
“Receiving these letters causes me untold heartache.”
Astonishingly, Joan’s appeal and Claudia’s disappearance were both featured on Crimewatch, a program produced by the BBC.
Joan said she was baffled as to how the corporation is still chasing her duaghter despite the massive publicity surrounding the harrowing case.
She branded one of the letters “nasty and horrible” and said it claimed Cladia’s credit score could suffer as a result of not paying the fee.
It comes after a week of turmoil at the Beeb after Ian Wright said managers caused a “hot mess” at the weekend by asking Gary Lineker to step away from Match Of The Day.
The former England footballer joined fellow pundits – including Alan Shearer and Alex Scott – and the corporation’s presenters and reporters to walk out in solidarity with Lineker during the impartiality row.
Football coverage on BBC TV and radio was hit before the BBC on Monday apologised and reinstated Lineker as host of MOTD.
The row was sparked after the 62-year-old former England striker was taken off air for a tweet comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy to that of 1930s Germany.
His remark sparked an impartiality row at the corporation which has historically prided itself on its neutrality. Critics of Lineker say that as the BBC’s highest-paid star, earning £1.35million a year in his freelance role, should refrain from taking sides in political matters on social media when the public-paid licence fee keeps his employer afloat.
During the beginning of the podcast Wrighty’s House, the 59-year-old said the row had been a “perfect distraction from what really matters”.
He added: “For me, they made a hot mess. I’m telling you, this is all from high up, I can’t blame my man (the head of BBC TV Sport) Philip Bernie, the BBC Sports team. All of this is over a tweet.”
