Controversy erupts at past of contestant in The Apprentice
Saturday, October 02, 2010, 07:30
Controversy has erupted about a contestant in The Apprentice after it emerged she has a past conviction for shouting racist obscenities at three taxi drivers.
Cleaning firm boss Joanna Riley, who is understood to live in Syston, became the focus of tabloid attention yesterday with reports of her conviction for the racially aggravated incident.
In 2007, the 25-year-old – who at the time was known as Joanne and lived in Hamilton, Leicester – received a two-year conditional discharge at Reading Crown Court.
Her 31-year-old partner and the father of her twin boys, Leon Kirk, was with her at the time of the incident, in Windsor, in 2005.
Ms Riley will be going head-to-head against 15 others to be named Lord Sugar's new apprentice in the show, which starts on Wednesday.
She said her aim in the show was to be honest, direct and funny.
The Mercury reported in 2007 that she and Mr Kirk hurled abuse at three Asian taxi drivers before she kicked the vehicles, causing about £1,000 of damage.
The scene unfolded beside the walls of the Queen's residence.
In court, Ms Riley claimed that one of the three drivers had made a lewd comment towards her, sparking the incident.
In mitigation, her lawyer told the court she was not racist and knew what it was like to be a victim of racism.
He said she reacted the way she did because she had had too much to drink and was frightened.
The judge said: "The best way of describing what happened is a most unfortunate incident."
Talkback Thames, the production company behind the show, said "In the case in question, which took place over five years ago, Joanna Riley's conditional discharge did not show up on the criminal record check because it is spent and had been cleared from her record.
"Her criminal record check revealed no irregularities."
A BBC statement said Talkback Thames' selection process was in line with BBC policy.
A statement from the show's PR company confirmed she had been involved in an incident after a night out with her long-term partner.
It said she had lashed out, but had immediately regretted it.
The statement added that the incident was in her past and she was now a working mother running a successful business.
One of the cabbies was Shakeel Ahmed, from London, who was yesterday contemplating offers from at least three national papers for his story.
The 55-year-old cabbie, who is based close to Windsor Castle, confirmed that The Apprentice hopeful was the same person involved in the incident at his rank in October 2005.
He told the Mercury: "It was definitely her, but I can't say too much because I'm waiting to hear back from some of the nationals about a fee for the story."
In her audition video, which can be viewed on the BBC's The Apprentice website, the young entrepreneur described how she planned to deal with other competitors.
She said: "I'm a bit foot in mouth, but I don't want to be there bullying them or intimidating them. If somebody rubs me up the wrong way, I'll let them know."
A Facebook group called the Joanna Riley Appreciation Society The Apprentice 2010 has been set up to support her.
Source; http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/n ... ticle.html
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