TVNZ has been forced to apologise after a prank in which its Breakfast team wished a happy wedding anniversary to two of the UK's worst serial killers.
Fred and Rosemary West. (file pic) Photo: Wikipedia.com
The blunder occurred this morning during a segment called Today's the Day in which viewers send in photos of family members to mark birthdays and anniversaries.
A viewer had asked that Francis and Violet Eastwood's 30th wedding anniversary be acknowledged and while a message was being read out by presenter Jenny-May Clarkson a photo appeared of the Fred and Rosemary West.
The Wests committed at least 12 murders of young women between 1967 and 1987. They buried their victims at their property in Gloucester.
TVNZ's general manager of corporate communications, Rachel Howard, said they "sincerely apologise" for the error and "that extra checks would be made in future".
"An image of Rosemary and Fred West was sent into the Breakfast team along with a false backstory for our Today's The Day segment. Unfortunately this wasn't caught before going to air.
"We sincerely apologise to our viewers who saw this error on screen.
"Jenny May spoke to our viewers as soon as the mistake was realised and noted that we take responsibility for getting things right and we are now adding extra steps to make sure we're not taken advantage of in this way again."
Howard said TVNZ was disappointed that someone chose to mislead them when the segment provided an opportunity for viewers to share their positive news.