US news presenter admits lying about being on board helicopter which was shot down

The British boss of American TV network NBC announced the suspension of nightly news presenter Brian Williams last night amid a growing scandal after he admitted lying about his part in an Iraqi War mission more than a decade ago.

As scrutiny mounted in recent days, holes were also found in stories Williams told about his personal involvement in Hurricane Katrina and Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah.

In a note sent to NBC staff, former ITN Editor Deborah Turness, the president of the network's news division, said Williams was being suspended for six months without pay because he 'misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003.

'It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position. In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field,' she added.

Williams had been under fire for eleven days after being called out by war veterans who challenged his story that he was travelling in a helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. It turned out that his chopper landed 30 minutes apart from the one that was damaged and was on a different mission.

Steve Burke, CEO of NBC Universal, also lambasted the newsman, saying: 'By his actions, Brian has jeopardised the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate.'

Williams has been in self-imposed exile from hosting NBC News’ Nightly News since it became clear the scandal wasn’t going to blow over.

The anchor has helmed the network’s flagship news program since 2004 and the ten-year anniversary of his role was celebrated with a round-up of his celebrated work in the field.

A storm of outrage greeted his apology last Wednesday when he broke off from the evening broadcast to admit his story was false.

The disgraced NBC anchor has been accused of “misremembering” details he reported during his award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina when he claimed to have seen bodies floating past a hotel and insisted gangs had “overrun” the place.

Myra DeGersdorff, then General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton at the edge of the New Orleans French Quarter, told the Washington Post the quarter only got inches of flooding and said she didn’t see any bodies.