surrounded by teenage girls, BBC
Daily Mail
I am reluctant to write this post. In the early 80s I accidentally read a file about an Australian tv star who sexually abused young teen girls. I was warned never to mention it again or I would lose my job. The memories still make me anxious.
Jimmy Savile (1926-2011) born in Leeds and started his career playing records, followed by managing dance halls, then becoming a radio DJ. He rose to fame on television by presenting the BBC show Jim’ll Fix It for 15+ years. Here Jimmy arranged ways to fulfil the dreams of regular people, mostly children, clearly exhibiting his love for people.
The earliest abuse recorded by police was in Manchester in 1955, where Savile was managing a dance hall. And a few years later, police reported that a 10-year-old boy asked Savile for his autograph outside a hotel. Savile took the boy inside and sexually assaulted him.
Savile launched the BBC’s Top of the Pops in 1964. He was hugely popular.
Then abuse reports started at the BBC, Leeds General Infirmary and Stoke Mandeville Hospital where Savile was a volunteer hospital porter in 1965. [Decades later, the Health Department published the results of investigations by 28 medical establishments!].
1970 police records showed Savile was abusing girls at Duncroft Girls' School Surrey where he was a regular visitor. Note that Savile chose facilities where children could not be easily supervised by their parents.
In Louis Theroux’s 2000 documentary, Savile acknowledged but laughed at the rumours about him being a paedophile. A lifelong bachelor, Savile lived with his mother The Duchess and kept her wardrobe perfectly. He fondled through her clothes and undies for Theroux’s camera.
Savile was well-connected in the entertainment industry and hung out with the famous. He often met members of the Royal family eg at the 1984 Royal Variety Performance. At the Victoria Palace Theatre, the Prince and Princess of Wales and Queen Mother laughed at his jokes and shook his hand. When Savile was knighted in 1990, it followed a decade of networking at the British Establishment, especially with Margaret Thatcher.
There were court cases by Jimmy Savile against a newspaper that linked him to abuse at Jersey children's home and Savile was interviewed under caution by Surrey police investigating an indecent assault case at Duncroft school. But there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Jimmy Savile died in Oct 2011. A tender tribute programme was aired on BBC1 called Jimmy Savile: As It Happened.
The prince said the tv star was his unofficial chief advisor
Savile, the Establishment hero with the PM Mrs Thatcher, 1978
Tribune
Tribune
However official inquiries were immediately launched into his offending at hospitals, schools and BBC. A Newsnight investigation began when researchers contacted former Duncroft pupils. Editor Peter Rippon emailed reporter Meirion Jones telling him to stop working on the case because it was not strong enough. Jones set out the consequences for the BBC, IF the story did not run.
Surrey police confirmed in 2012 that they investigated a historic allegation of indecent assault at Staines’ Children's Home and that they referred it to the Prosecution Service. But again prosecution stalled, from lack of evidence.
The BBC Dir. General George Entwistle appeared on the Today programme. Liz Mackean emailed Entwistle, sharing the concern with the handling of the Newsnight Savile story and showing inaccuracies. Entwistle asked the BBC Scotland Director to investigate the circumstances in which the Newsnight investigation was axed.
Surrey police confirmed in 2012 that they investigated a historic allegation of indecent assault at Staines’ Children's Home and that they referred it to the Prosecution Service. But again prosecution stalled, from lack of evidence.
The BBC Dir. General George Entwistle appeared on the Today programme. Liz Mackean emailed Entwistle, sharing the concern with the handling of the Newsnight Savile story and showing inaccuracies. Entwistle asked the BBC Scotland Director to investigate the circumstances in which the Newsnight investigation was axed.
A Panorama special on the BBC-and-Savile was broadcast. Then Entwistle appeared before the Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee. BBC asked Judge Dame Janet Smith to investigate the culture and practices of the BBC whenever Savile worked there. But Entwistle still had to resign. Some reporters/editors cared about sexual abuse of children; others had other priorities.
Scotland Yard finally labelled Savile a prolific, predatory sex offender after its investigation revealed 214 criminal offences in 28 police forces (1955-2009). Their Giving Victims a Voice Report found that 73% of his victims were children, in 14 different medical facilities. Naturally they couldn’t total the number of cases where the children were too scared to EVER speak.
A joint report by National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children/NSPCC and Metropolitan Police (2013) found that Savile used his celebrity status to coerce or control his victims.
The scandal was discovered by Newsnight after Savile’s death, discovered but silenced. BBC executives rejected the story in favour of a fawning tribute to Savile. The treatment of whistle blowers was awful; soon after Jones and MacKean were also forced out of the BBC ☹ .
Did the Savile scandal help abuse victims? It transformed how to deal with sexual assault allegations, to reassess attitudes to celebrity and to see how morally craven institutions were. But it took until Oct 2021 before 5 TV programmes were produced to deal with abuse. An entire generation of journalists had failed to do their job.
Savile groomed important institutions: the BBC, NHS, Catholic church, police, government/Mrs Thatcher and the monarchy. To understand how Savile succeeded, read the 2009 transcript of his police interview with the 83-year-old boaster. “I financially support on a yearly basis, according to the Charity Commission, 50+ separate charities. I have friends. Iff this process doesn’t disappear for any reason, then my people can book time in the Old Bailey. But nobody wants to go that far because of the prospect of me on the other side of the court”.
Savile really was a great fundraiser! In fact he raised a staggering £40m for charity
Of all the U.K institutions Savile conned, was the BBC was the most culpable? The National Broadcaster didn’t just create his famous character; it enabled and encouraged him. The then-Dir Gen, Tony Hall, read the survivors’ testimony and said: we, the BBC, did that. Jimmy Savile committed many crimes in many places. But uniquely it was the BBC that made him a VIP.
Before Savile’s death, survivors were frightened to speak, assuming they wouldn’t be believed or would be punished. But then a new policy was announced: allegations of sexual assault would be investigated seriously. Do the rich, famous and powerful still get protected?