BBC Host Sentenced for Euthanasia Lie

A former BBC presenter who lied about smothering a lover dying of AIDS has received a 90-day suspended sentence for wasting police time.

According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, "Ray Gosling, 71, was given a 90-day suspended prison sentence at Nottingham magistrates' court after pleading guilty to wasting police time."

In a BBC program broadcast in February, Gosling claimed to have performed the mercy killing more than 20 years ago on a young lover suffering from AIDS after the doctor said no options remained. He was arrested on suspicion of murder within 36 hours after the Inside Out episode aired.

"However detectives carried out a six-month investigation and are understood to have found no evidence to support the allegations made during the Inside Out programme broadcast in February," reports the Daily Mail.

Police also expressed dismay that the BBC did not verify the confession before it was broadcast.