Ofcom has fined Discovery Communications Europe £100,000 after episodes of crime series Deadly Women were shown during school holidays.
The regulator has reminded all licensees that they must protect children from unsuitable material by scheduling programmes appropriately. In addition, material that may cause offence must be justified by the context.
Deadly Women, a ‘true-life’ crime series about female serial killers was screened by Investigation Discovery in August 2013.
Each episode relayed the crimes of three different murderers through dramatic reconstructions and interviews with experts in criminal behaviour. Ofcom assessed a total of eight episodes of the programme, each of which was shown between 6:00am and 5:00pm in August 2013.
Ofcom said the repeated broadcast in the daytime during the school holidays of very violent material – in the form of prolonged graphic and disturbing dramatic reconstructions of torture, mutilation and murder – resulted in serious breaches of the Broadcasting Code and warranted a statutory sanction.
The £100,000 fine will be paid by Discovery Communications Europe Ltd to HM Paymaster General.
