One of the questions that has been repeatedly asked in the media is this. If "everyone" knew about allegations of child abuse about Jimmy Savile, why did nobody tell the Police? I was as outraged as everybody else and then I was asked today about Barnet. "Have you ever heard any rumours about Barnet Politics?". The answer to this question is "Yes, all the time". Do I believe that any of them are true? Well I have had no credible evidence that would stand up in a court of law. I suspect much of the gossip is malicious. I used to get streams of anonymous emails making various allegations. I had one correspondent who claimed to be a BNP sympathiser, who made all sorts of claims and asked me if I supported the death penalty for child abusers, in a way that implied if I didn't I was in some way complicit. The honest answer is that much as I'd love to see child abusers strung up by the goolies, I don't believe in the death penalty full stop for anyone, although I do believe that life should mean life in such cases.
So the dilemma is that if in twenty years time, it turns out the gossip was true, would I be one of the people criticised for saying nothing when I'd heard rumours? As such, I guess all I can do is ask the Police if they are interested in hearing all the gossip I've been told over the year and then if they decide that it is worth investigating, they can.
Sadly as no one has supplied specific names, dates, times or details they will have quite a bit of sleuthing to do before they get anywhere. Had I had credible evidence, I would have picked up the phone immdeiately.
For the record, if anyone has any credible evidence that they feel would stand up in a court of law, I'd be only too pleased to pass it on to the Police. And I would support the maximum sentence that the law could give for any perpetrators found guilty.
3 comments:
One of the arguments now being used by Paul Gambaccini (and others) is that he did not report their suspicions about Jimmy Savile because he would not have been believed. Apparently, he was only a junior DJ at the time. He should still have reported the matter. If enough people had done so, the Police would have been forced to investigate.
But Gambaccini was only a junior DJ for a short period. Why didn’t he say something after 10 years? Or 20? Or 30? It is positively nauseating to hear all these so called celebrities trying to justify why they did nothing.
One Nationwide reporter interviewed by Panorama this week said that it had never even occurred to him to report Savile.
They should all be sacked. They might not have committed the crime, but they turned a blind eye which is just as bad. In America they could be charged with being accessories after the fact.
Back in 1980 I was in the audience for Top of the Pops. Jimmy Saville was the DJ. I caught his eye and he leered at me in a way that truly gave me the creeps (back then a lot of men used to ogle me and I wasn't normally bothered). My reaction was that I must be mistaken, this was Jimmy Saville, Britain's favourite eccentric old uncle.
I can see how easily the cover up happened, his TV persona was so friendly and innocent plus he did so much for charity many people must have ignored the unsavoury side of his character.
I feel so sorry for the people he abused, they knew they wouldn't be believed.
Details of the St John ambulance paedophiles and their paedophile protection network which stretches all the way to St John International head office in London, are here:
www.stjohnnz.com
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