During Monday night’s double-hander, Bethany (played by Lucy Fallon) gave evidence in court in a bid to finally prosecute sick groomer Nathan Curtis (Chris Harper).
However, during the harrowing scenes, viewers noticed Bethany was being drawn by a courtroom sketch artist, which is forbidden for victims of sexual assault in order to protect their anonymity.
“Erm, why would a court artist be sketching Bethany? She’s automatically entitled to anonymity. #Corrie #CoronationStreet,” asked one audience member, as another followed: “Just tweeted about the sketching in court and id’ing….. great minds x.”
The Sun claims the ITV soap is facing an Ofcom probe into the scenes and now Corrie bosses have apologised.
A spokeswoman said: “In last night’s episode we showed a court artist at work sketching Bethany during her trial. We accept this wasn’t a true representation of court procedure and we apologise for including it.
“The artist was solely used to illustrate the passing of time and we devoted multiple scenes to the fact that Bethany’s anonymity is a priority for the court.
“We repeatedly focused on details regarding screens and video links, and 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.”
However, despite the unfortunate mishap, viewers were still moved by the harrowing scenes which saw Bethany in tears as she relayed her traumatic few months.
What’s more, they were stunned to see the death of another one of Nathan’s victims, Lara Cutler (Niamh Blackshaw).
The 14-year-old was last seen being grilled by David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) and Shona Ramsey (Julia Goulding) when they were searching for a missing Bethany weeks ago.
Sadly, her final appearance came as a shock after she jumped in front of a train before she was discovered by Bethany’s close friend Craig Tinker (Colson Smith).
Coronation Street continues tonight at 7.30pm on ITV.
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