Corrie viewers OUTRAGED after show makes “concerning” error in Bethany’s trial

Coronation Street has been slammed after they made a "dangerous" mistake during Bethany Platt's sexual assault trial on Monday night.

Coronation Street bosses have been highly praised so far for their portrayal of Bethany Platt's horrific ordeal.

She's been groomed by an older man, forced into a paedophile sex ring and sexually assaulted by many different people.

Thankfully, she has been brave enough to take him to court, something that many victims never feel able to do, and both Corrie viewers and charities for victims have been happy with how the storyline has been portrayed so far.

WATCH: Bethany Tells the Court What Nathan Really Did to Her | ITV/ Coronation Street

However, it seems that they dropped the ball in Monday night's episode, and made a "concerning" mistake.

Whilst Bethany was standing in the dock, the camera showed a court artist drawing her with Nathan behind her - something that would absolutely never happen in a real court, or a sexual assault case.

Firstly, court artists in real courtrooms are not allowed to sketch whilst sat in the court - they must draw the people invovled in the case once they are out of the courtroom from memory.

Secondly, victims of sexual assault are automatically entitled to anonymity for life - meaning that there would never be a court artist there in the first place.

Horrified viewers took to Twitter to slam the show's serious mistake.

But former Chief Crown Prosecutor Nazir Afzal was "worried" about how this may make real-life victims feel, as it may put them off speaking up about their own terrible experiences.

Whilst he praised the show for their portrayal of sex grooming gangs, he went on to tell the BBC: "But I'm concerned over their mistake. A court artist must always draw from memory and must not draw victims.

"We make an enormous play of telling victims that nobody will know who you are. Those victims might pick up the mistake and it might make them uncomfortable and we shouldn't have to do that.

"We're having to put the genie back in the bottle; we're having to fix something, which should be unnecessary."

However, a Coronation Street spokesperson has now apologised for the error, explaining that it was only included to show the passing of time as Bethany was cross-examined.

They said: "We accept this wasn't a true representation of court procedure and we apologise for including it.

"We repeatedly focused on support for victims throughout the court process, which we hope would encourage anyone watching to recognise the fact they would be in a safe place when giving evidence."

Have you been watching Coronation Street? What did you think of this scene? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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