Head of BBC under armed protection following threats

Updated: 19:33, Thursday, 29 April 1999

Detectives investigating last Monday's murder of BBC presenter, Jill Dando, are now also investigating a death threat made against her former boss.

Tony Hall, Head of BBC news threatened Tony Hall, Head of BBC news threatened

Detectives investigating last Monday's murder of BBC presenter, Jill Dando, are now also investigating a death threat made against her former boss. BBC head of news, Tony Hall, received a death threat on Tuesday. He and his family are now under police guard.

The threats against Tony Hall were made in a call to the BBC switchboard in London. An anonymous male telephone caller to the BBC claimed that Ms Dando's murder was in retaliation for the NATO airstrike on the headquarters of the Serbian State Television Centre last Thursday, he then allegedly made threats against Mr Hall.

A spokesperson for the BBC confirmed that the call was made and the station has stepped up security at its main centres as a result. However, it was also stated that threats to staff within the organisation were not unusual. A spokesman for police investigating the murder of Jill Dando said that the anonymous call was a line of inquiry being investigated by detectives. However no definite link has been established between the call and Ms Dando's death, and the possibility of it being a hoax has not been ruled out.

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