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Around 60,000 phonebooks may need to be reprinted after an alleged "illegal representation" led to false details being printed under the Bailiff's name.
JT and Yabsta, which is responsible for printing the island's telephone directories, announced today that following an internal probe, the matter has been referred to relevant authorities for further investigation.
The blunder saw the Bailiff described by a different name and title ("Rt Hon Earl"), and given an erroneous phone number and email address, which Express has chosen not to print so as not to breach the confidentiality of the member of the public whose details have been used in place of the Bailiff's.
Pictured: The entry in the phonebook under the Bailiff's name.
The postal address was also false, listed as 'Surburbia 1'.
Yabsta - the company now responsible for the island's telephone directories after taking over the responsibility from JT - say that 6,000 2019/2020 phonebooks have already been distributed, but that they have ceased distribution of the remaining thousands.
The company described the error as "rare given the stringent and careful checks which are in place on information provided", saying that it had come about as a result of what they believed to be "illegal representation made to our staff about the contact details for the island's Bailiff".
In a statement, Yabsta apologised "sincerely to the Jersey public for any inconvenience or confusion and, most importantly, to the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, for any embarrassment this caused to him personally and as the holder of his office."
Despite no longer being responsible for the production and distribution of Jersey's annual phonebook, JT also offered their apologies.
Pictured: 6,000 phonebooks with the erroneous details - 10% of the overall quantity - have been distributed so far.
A spokesperson commented on behalf of the telecoms provider: “We have been made aware of an error in the recently issued 2019 Jersey Directory which is now compiled by directory specialists Yabsta, who took over production and distribution of the publication in June 2018. From the information we have received we believe that the erroneous information – provision of an incorrect name and contact details for Jersey’s Bailiff – was an illegal misrepresentation to Yabsta and as such this matter has now been passed on to the relevant authorities to investigate.
"Although the Jersey Directory is no longer compiled or owned by JT, we acknowledge that it is still strongly associated with the company and this is an embarrassing and prominent mistake. We would like to apologise to those members of the public who may have already received their copy of the Directory for this misleading information and we have contacted the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, to offer our own personal apologies directly.”
The Bailiff has since commented: "The Bailiff acknowledges that this was an error on the part of JT for which he understands the company has apologised. It is particularly unfortunate that the mistake may cause embarrassment to the individual wrongly named as Bailiff and of course that is very much regretted."
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