Jimmy Savile given the keys to Broadmoor under Ken Clarke
New probe as grim toll of fiend's victims rises to 60
14 oct 2012 http://www.thesun.co.uk
Key role ... chain revealed as Jimmy Savile hugs Broadmoor
patient
14 oct 2012 http://www.thesun.co.uk
It emerged that BBC pervert Savile was “given the keys” to Broadmoor secure hospital around 1988 — when Mr Clarke was Health Secretary.
Mr Clarke was last night forced to defend himself, saying: “I have no recollection of ever having met Jimmy Savile and no recollection of these events.
“The Department of Health are now investigating to establish the facts.”
An aide to the Tory veteran, now minister without portfolio in David Cameron’s Cabinet, said Savile’s role at Broadmoor “may have been” set up by someone else.
The Sun revealed how Savile molested a 17-year-old girl patient after being given keys and a job at the Berkshire psychiatric hospital.
He even had a mobile home on site and ordered teenagers inside, supposedly to clean it.
Our revelations prompted the Department of Health to yesterday announce an investigation into how Savile was appointed to lead a taskforce overseeing management restructuring at Broadmoor. A spokesman said: “In hindsight, he should obviously not have been appointed.”
Police chiefs yesterday revealed Savile’s campaign of underage sex abuse covered at least 60 victims over six decades.
Investigators now believe the Jim’ll Fix It and Top of The Pops host preyed on youngsters from 1959 to 2006, when he would have been 79.
Commander Peter Spindler, head of the Met’s Specialist Crime Investigations, said: “One week on, I have revised my estimate of the number of likely victims to be about 60.
“Once again I want to thank those who have come forward and reassure them, and anyone else who contacts us, they will be listened to.”
Scotland Yard detectives are in contact with 14 other forces investigating Savile’s abuses, with police now pursuing 340 lines of inquiry nationwide.
As the BBC continued to tear itself apart over the scandal, legal experts warned that any TV executives who covered up for Savile could be prosecuted and JAILED for perverting the course of justice.
The BBC could also end up facing a £15million compensation bill after victims called in lawyers.
A Tory MP who worked for the Beeb at the height of Savile’s fame said senior staff “must have known” the star was sexually abusing young girls.
Roger Gale, who worked on kids’ show Swap Shop and became head of children’s TV in the 1970s, said: “I don’t believe that previous director-generals didn’t know about it.
“If senior people were in the know then action should be taken against them. If people were aiding and abetting then they should be prosecuted.”
BBC staff are furious that a Newsnight report exposing Savile’s crimes was axed shortly after he died last year aged 84.
They fear Newsnight editor Peter Rippon binned the report under pressure from bosses who were planning to screen tribute shows and even revive Jim’ll Fix It.
Beeb insiders say Mr Rippon has lost the confidence of his team, including star presenter Jeremy Paxman. A source said: “Newsnight is in a bad way, a very bad position which is entirely of Peter Rippon’s making. People are really angry and depressed about it.
“Rippon is just another one of these people who want to advance up the greasy pole.
“The whole thing is a farce and we are just bracing ourselves for more revelations.”
Mr Gale, MP for Thanet North, added: “If it transpires that the Newsnight programme was binned because the story would have reflected badly on the BBC — which it would have — then the director-general’s position at that time is untenable.”
The MP also questioned how much the police knew, saying: “It worries me that the police didn’t say anything six months ago, or six years ago, or ten years ago.”
The University of Bedford yesterday stripped Savile of an honorary degree awarded in 2009 for services to the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville hospital.
Uni chiefs took the decision at an emergency meeting after claims Savile used his position as a hospital volunteer to target victims lying on the wards.
The BBC has offered a “profound and heartfelt apology” to Savile’s victims.
Director-general George Entwistle announced two inquiries — one into the axed Newsnight probe, and another into the “culture and practices” of the BBC when Savile worked there.