Whittington, Rice thrown under bus: mother

The mother of an Australian man still in a Lebanese jail over the 60 Minutes botched kidnapping attempt says the Nine Network hasn't contacted his family.

Seven weeks after Adam Whittington was jailed in Beirut over the 60 Minutes botched kidnapping the Nine Network still hasn't contacted his family, the imprisoned man's mother says.

Georgina Whittington says her son can't get bail until charged by Lebanese authorities over the bungled plot to snatch the children of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner from their father in April.

Mr Whittington, who was paid $70,000 for his role in the kidnapping, was not mentioned in a report released by Nine on Friday that found "inexcusable errors" in the events that led to the arrest of Mr Whittington, three of his colleagues and a team of four 60 Minutes staff including reporter Tara Brown and producer Stephen Rice.

Mrs Whittington told the ABC on Friday night she didn't know about the report until it was released.

"I haven't heard a word from them, they didn't even have the decency to contact my daughter-in-law, Adam's wife, and his two kids," she said.

The report revealed the incident had cost Mr Rice his job and resulted in official warnings for the remaining crew members but Mrs Whittington said nothing had happened to help her son.

"First they've thrown Adam under the bus, now they're throwing Steve Rice under the bus," Mrs Whittington told the ABC.

"If one gets under the bus they should all get under the bus. Channel 9 employed all of them so what's good for some should be good for all the others."

She said payments made to Ms Faulkner's former partner, Ali Elamine, to have charges against the 60 Minutes crew dropped had affected her son's case.

"Money talks and we don't have money," she said.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world