Coronation Street apologise for error in Bethany Platt's sex abuse trial

Following Monday night's episode of Coronation Street the TV show have apologised for misrepresenting the court procedures during Bethany Platt's sex abuse trial against Nathan Curtis.

The TV soap has been widely praised for its portrayal of the sensitive subject for nearly a year, but in Monday's episode an oversight showed Bethany being sketched by a court artist, despite sex abuse victims having lifelong anonymity. The TV show also showed the artist sketching in the court, when they must do it from memory.

Nazir Afzal who is a former chief crown prosecutor has commended Coronation Street for providing an ‘accurate portrayal’ however he admitted he had concerns over the scene in question.

He is reported by Metro.co.uk as saying, "I think it was especially brave before the watershed and it has undoubtedly encouraged victims to come forward. But I’m concerned over their mistake. A court artist must always draw from memory and must not draw victims."

Continuing, "We make an enormous play of telling victims that nobody will know who you are. Those victims might pick up the mistake and it might make them uncomfortable and we shouldn’t have to do that."

This mistake was spotted by a number of viewers who took to Twitter with Michelle Finney saying, 'Erm, why would a court artist be sketching Bethany? She's automatically entitled to anonymity.' And another viewer saying 'Court artists are forbidden by law to draw in court, only allowed to take notes and Bethany's id is protected.'

A spokesperson for the soap apologised for the mistake saying, "We accept this wasn’t a true representation of court procedure and we apologise for including it.

"We repeatedly focused on support for victims throughout the court process, which we hope would encourage anyone watching to recognise the fact they would be in a safe place when giving evidence."

Last night the verdict was given against Nathan, but we won't spoil it in case you haven't caught up with it yet.

Coronation Street continues weekdays evenings on ITV.

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