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| Jimmy Savile: transcript reveals 'policy' used to halt abuse claims | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Police have released the transcript of a 2009 interview with Jimmy Savile in which the disgraced former BBC presenter bullishly dismisses child sexual abuse allegations against him and threatens aggressive legal action to shut down the claims. | Police have released the transcript of a 2009 interview with Jimmy Savile in which the disgraced former BBC presenter bullishly dismisses child sexual abuse allegations against him and threatens aggressive legal action to shut down the claims. |
| A sense of how the man, believed to be one of Britain's most prolific paedophile abusers, saw himself as beyond the law emerges from the transcript, in which Surrey police interrogators appear to take an almost deferential approach. | A sense of how the man, believed to be one of Britain's most prolific paedophile abusers, saw himself as beyond the law emerges from the transcript, in which Surrey police interrogators appear to take an almost deferential approach. |
| The interview with Savile, who is asked by officers at the outset if it is OK to call him "Jimmy", was carried out under caution at an office used by the presenter at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville hospital, one of many locations where he is thought to have abused children over decades. | The interview with Savile, who is asked by officers at the outset if it is OK to call him "Jimmy", was carried out under caution at an office used by the presenter at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville hospital, one of many locations where he is thought to have abused children over decades. |
| The late DJ, who was a fundraiser for the hospital, told the officers that while the NHS ran the hospital, "I own it." | The late DJ, who was a fundraiser for the hospital, told the officers that while the NHS ran the hospital, "I own it." |
| Questioning him two years before his death, the police asked Savile about reports they had received from a female former resident of Duncroft children's home in Staines during the 1970s who had alleged that another former resident claimed to have been "touched over her clothes sexually" when he visited. | Questioning him two years before his death, the police asked Savile about reports they had received from a female former resident of Duncroft children's home in Staines during the 1970s who had alleged that another former resident claimed to have been "touched over her clothes sexually" when he visited. |
| "Oh! Out of the question," replied Savile, who claimed the allegations had only surfaced because his accusers were after money, adding: "There's women looking for a few quid, we always get something like this coming up for Christmas." | "Oh! Out of the question," replied Savile, who claimed the allegations had only surfaced because his accusers were after money, adding: "There's women looking for a few quid, we always get something like this coming up for Christmas." |
| Savile is believed to have abused hundreds of children. Investigations into the abuse are under way at 13 hospital trusts – including Stoke Mandeville, Broadmoor and Leeds general infirmary – with the potential for probes to be extended to other hospitals in the wake of new information that has recently come to light. | Savile is believed to have abused hundreds of children. Investigations into the abuse are under way at 13 hospital trusts – including Stoke Mandeville, Broadmoor and Leeds general infirmary – with the potential for probes to be extended to other hospitals in the wake of new information that has recently come to light. |
| The transcript, released by Surrey police after a Freedom of Information Act request, was from an interview involving at least two officers, one from the force's child protection team. Another person, apparently a friend of Savile, was present. | The transcript, released by Surrey police after a Freedom of Information Act request, was from an interview involving at least two officers, one from the force's child protection team. Another person, apparently a friend of Savile, was present. |
| Savile, 83 at the time, was thanked by police as the interview began, who said: "You've kindly let us use this room here." | Savile, 83 at the time, was thanked by police as the interview began, who said: "You've kindly let us use this room here." |
| In rambling, often dismissive answers throughout the 41-minute interview on 1 October 2009, Savile said allegations against him had started in the 1950s and told of his "policy" towards them, boasting that he had sued newspapers who made allegations against him "and not one of them wanted to finish up in court with me so they all settled out of court". | In rambling, often dismissive answers throughout the 41-minute interview on 1 October 2009, Savile said allegations against him had started in the 1950s and told of his "policy" towards them, boasting that he had sued newspapers who made allegations against him "and not one of them wanted to finish up in court with me so they all settled out of court". |
| He said: "I've already told my legal people that somebody were [sic] going to come and talk to me, they've got a copy of your letter, and the process or the policy will start because if this disappears, so if it disappears it disappears, if it doesn't disappear for any reason then my policy will swing into action at the same time." | He said: "I've already told my legal people that somebody were [sic] going to come and talk to me, they've got a copy of your letter, and the process or the policy will start because if this disappears, so if it disappears it disappears, if it doesn't disappear for any reason then my policy will swing into action at the same time." |
| Savile continued: "If I was going to sue anybody – which I never actually got round to actually suing because they all run away and say 'shush pay him up' – we go not to the local court, we go to the Old Bailey 'cos my people can book time in the Old Bailey so my legal people are ready and waiting. All they need would be a name, and an address, and then the due process from my angle would stop." | Savile continued: "If I was going to sue anybody – which I never actually got round to actually suing because they all run away and say 'shush pay him up' – we go not to the local court, we go to the Old Bailey 'cos my people can book time in the Old Bailey so my legal people are ready and waiting. All they need would be a name, and an address, and then the due process from my angle would stop." |
| The child protection team officer said the woman making the claim, and the person who she had spoken to about it, were both under 16 when they allegedly saw Savile behave inappropriately. | The child protection team officer said the woman making the claim, and the person who she had spoken to about it, were both under 16 when they allegedly saw Savile behave inappropriately. |
| In one of several sections of the transcript containing redacted material, the officer added: "XXX said, he put her hand on his groin over his clothes and moved it around, making him aroused. | In one of several sections of the transcript containing redacted material, the officer added: "XXX said, he put her hand on his groin over his clothes and moved it around, making him aroused. |
| "So on making further enquiries, I became aware of two further incidents that were reported." | "So on making further enquiries, I became aware of two further incidents that were reported." |
| They included an incident in which another girl also at Duncroft said Savile had asked her to massage his groin area and give him oral sex, which she refused to do. | They included an incident in which another girl also at Duncroft said Savile had asked her to massage his groin area and give him oral sex, which she refused to do. |
| Another involved a girl who was in a choir that attended a concert at Stoke Mandeville, where Savile was said to have kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth. | Another involved a girl who was in a choir that attended a concert at Stoke Mandeville, where Savile was said to have kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth. |
| Savile referred to himself as "Litigiousness", given his willingness to take people to court, telling police: "Now if you're Litigiousness, people get quite nervous actually because for somebody that don't want to go to court, I love it." | Savile referred to himself as "Litigiousness", given his willingness to take people to court, telling police: "Now if you're Litigiousness, people get quite nervous actually because for somebody that don't want to go to court, I love it." |
| Savile added that willingness to stand before a judge should be proof itself that he had done nothing wrong: "Because I've never done anybody any harm in my entire life, 'cos … there's no need to. | Savile added that willingness to stand before a judge should be proof itself that he had done nothing wrong: "Because I've never done anybody any harm in my entire life, 'cos … there's no need to. |
| "No need to chase girls, I've thousands of them on Top of the Pops, thousands on Radio 1. No need to take liberties with them, out of the question and anyway it's not my nature. | "No need to chase girls, I've thousands of them on Top of the Pops, thousands on Radio 1. No need to take liberties with them, out of the question and anyway it's not my nature. |
| "When you're doing Top of the Pops and Radio 1, what you don't do is assault women; they assault you, that's for sure, and you don't have to, because you've got plenty of girls about, and all that, so dealing with something like this, is out of the question and totally wrong, full stop." | "When you're doing Top of the Pops and Radio 1, what you don't do is assault women; they assault you, that's for sure, and you don't have to, because you've got plenty of girls about, and all that, so dealing with something like this, is out of the question and totally wrong, full stop." |
| At another point in the interview, Savile suggested he had a close relationship with police in Yorkshire, claiming that he passed them correspondence which he described as "weirdo letters", and which his questioners from Surrey police took to mean "letters of a threatening nature or otherwise." | At another point in the interview, Savile suggested he had a close relationship with police in Yorkshire, claiming that he passed them correspondence which he described as "weirdo letters", and which his questioners from Surrey police took to mean "letters of a threatening nature or otherwise." |
| "It's just something that you just say, they say 'any more weirdo's then Jim?', I said yes, and they say 'wo-oh, ha-ha,-ha-ha'," said Savile, who said that the officers, including an inspector, would come to his home to drink tea. | "It's just something that you just say, they say 'any more weirdo's then Jim?', I said yes, and they say 'wo-oh, ha-ha,-ha-ha'," said Savile, who said that the officers, including an inspector, would come to his home to drink tea. |
| "One of the reasons that I do that is that things happen to people like me that don't happen to normal people who are not normal. And just in case anything happened to somebody like me then the lads would be able to sift through all this weirdo stuff." | "One of the reasons that I do that is that things happen to people like me that don't happen to normal people who are not normal. And just in case anything happened to somebody like me then the lads would be able to sift through all this weirdo stuff." |
| Savile claimed that the police didn't keep the letters for very long but would "pass them around the office, and everybody has a laugh". | Savile claimed that the police didn't keep the letters for very long but would "pass them around the office, and everybody has a laugh". |
| Police launched the Operation Yewtree investigation in the wake of the claims against Savile that emerged after his death. Liz Dux, a lawyer representing 72 of his alleged victims said on Tuesday night: "The interview shows Savile to be a man with complete disdain and contempt for those that he was purporting to help. | Police launched the Operation Yewtree investigation in the wake of the claims against Savile that emerged after his death. Liz Dux, a lawyer representing 72 of his alleged victims said on Tuesday night: "The interview shows Savile to be a man with complete disdain and contempt for those that he was purporting to help. |
| "He boasts about his fundraising for the hospitals, his wealth and his powerful friends demonstrating how his actions went unquestioned for so many years." | "He boasts about his fundraising for the hospitals, his wealth and his powerful friends demonstrating how his actions went unquestioned for so many years." |
| Dux, head of abuse at law firm Slater & Gordon, added: "His victims will be distressed to read that those that protected him put monetary gain and his celebrity above looking after their welfare. | Dux, head of abuse at law firm Slater & Gordon, added: "His victims will be distressed to read that those that protected him put monetary gain and his celebrity above looking after their welfare. |
| "It's clear from the interview and the detailed questioning from police that they must have had a lot of information at the time he was interviewed back in 2009." | "It's clear from the interview and the detailed questioning from police that they must have had a lot of information at the time he was interviewed back in 2009." |
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