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Jimmy Savile: police officers repeatedly failed sex victims
Sir Jimmy Savile was investigated by police during a series of sex abuse inquiries spanning six decades – but each time he evaded justice.
By Robert Mendick
9:00PM BST 13 Oct 2012
Savile was first investigated by police “for interfering with young girls” when a nightclub manager in Leeds as long ago as 1958. His former bodyguard has told The Sunday Telegraph that Savile claimed to have paid officers to drop the case.
It was the first in a series of at least six investigations that included:
An inquiry into underage sex taking place in the Top of the Pops changing rooms in the late 1960s, according to the show’s then producer. Police interviewed BBC staff but did not pursue a case;
An allegation in 1971 that Savile was involved with a 15-year-old dancer on Top of the Pops, who committed suicide. The girl’s half-brother said Savile was interviewed as a witness, but no further action was taken;
Claims that Savile was abusing patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the late 1970s. John Lindsay, a detective constable at the time, reported the allegations – made by a nurse – to his commanding officer but was told there was not enough evidence to proceed against a celebrity of Savile’s stature;
Two further police investigations in the past five years, including one in Surrey in 2007 over claims of an indecent assault at Duncroft Approved School for Girls. Savile was interviewed by police but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence.
In further evidence that there were widespread suspicions about Savile, Tony Blackburn, a fellow DJ and presenter, said that it was to his “eternal regret” that his former BBC colleague had been “allowed to get away with these monstrous acts”.
The revelations raise serious concerns that the BBC covered up Savile’s sex crimes at the time to protect the reputation of one of their biggest stars.
George Entwistle, the BBC’s director-general, insisted last week that the corporation could find no evidence of allegations of abuse by Savile in its files.
In his first intervention since Savile’s behaviour was made public, Blackburn, 69, told The Sunday Telegraph: “I am disgusted beyond words at the vile, despicable actions of Jimmy Savile.
“He was never a friend. He was not a nice man despite how the public viewed him at the peak of his success. There were always rumours circulating about him. The problem at the time was that rumour was always hard to translate into fact. Jimmy Savile was a master manipulator.”
Scotland Yard said yesterday that the number of likely victims had reached 60 with 340 lines of inquiry pursued by 14 forces. The NSPCC has received more than 100 complaints.
Peter Watt, the head of the NSPCC’s helpline, said: “The number of incidents reported have reached treble figures making him a hugely prolific sex offender – one of the worst I’ve ever heard of.”
et bloody cetera...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ctims.html
Sir Jimmy Savile was investigated by police during a series of sex abuse inquiries spanning six decades – but each time he evaded justice.
By Robert Mendick
9:00PM BST 13 Oct 2012
Savile was first investigated by police “for interfering with young girls” when a nightclub manager in Leeds as long ago as 1958. His former bodyguard has told The Sunday Telegraph that Savile claimed to have paid officers to drop the case.
It was the first in a series of at least six investigations that included:
An inquiry into underage sex taking place in the Top of the Pops changing rooms in the late 1960s, according to the show’s then producer. Police interviewed BBC staff but did not pursue a case;
An allegation in 1971 that Savile was involved with a 15-year-old dancer on Top of the Pops, who committed suicide. The girl’s half-brother said Savile was interviewed as a witness, but no further action was taken;
Claims that Savile was abusing patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the late 1970s. John Lindsay, a detective constable at the time, reported the allegations – made by a nurse – to his commanding officer but was told there was not enough evidence to proceed against a celebrity of Savile’s stature;
Two further police investigations in the past five years, including one in Surrey in 2007 over claims of an indecent assault at Duncroft Approved School for Girls. Savile was interviewed by police but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence.
In further evidence that there were widespread suspicions about Savile, Tony Blackburn, a fellow DJ and presenter, said that it was to his “eternal regret” that his former BBC colleague had been “allowed to get away with these monstrous acts”.
The revelations raise serious concerns that the BBC covered up Savile’s sex crimes at the time to protect the reputation of one of their biggest stars.
George Entwistle, the BBC’s director-general, insisted last week that the corporation could find no evidence of allegations of abuse by Savile in its files.
In his first intervention since Savile’s behaviour was made public, Blackburn, 69, told The Sunday Telegraph: “I am disgusted beyond words at the vile, despicable actions of Jimmy Savile.
“He was never a friend. He was not a nice man despite how the public viewed him at the peak of his success. There were always rumours circulating about him. The problem at the time was that rumour was always hard to translate into fact. Jimmy Savile was a master manipulator.”
Scotland Yard said yesterday that the number of likely victims had reached 60 with 340 lines of inquiry pursued by 14 forces. The NSPCC has received more than 100 complaints.
Peter Watt, the head of the NSPCC’s helpline, said: “The number of incidents reported have reached treble figures making him a hugely prolific sex offender – one of the worst I’ve ever heard of.”
et bloody cetera...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ctims.html
