- Investigations found Savile had at least 103 victims across 28 NHS hospitals
- Boasted about having sex with corpses and 'wheeling them around' at night
- One former nurse said Savile would 'muck about' posing with dead bodies
- Barnet patient overheard nurses say they saw him have sex with body
- At Leeds General Infirmary he abused at least 60 victims between five and 75
- Majority of victims were teenagers but 19 victims were female hospital staff
- Most recent victim was in 2009 when he was aged 82 - 2 years before he died
- 43 of the attacks were in plain sight like on the wards and in the corridors
- Staff were told about some incidents but managers didn't know anything
- At Broadmoor Savile abused at least five individuals, including two patients
- Probe found 'clear failings' in the way access to Broadmoor was controlled
- Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt apologises on behalf of Government and NHS
Jimmy Savile
boasted about having sex with corpses and had jewellery made from glass
eyes he removed from their bodies, it was revealed today.
The
sick paedophile also gloated to others that he enjoyed 'posing' with
the corpses and said that he would 'wheel them around' at night at Leeds
General Infirmary.
The astonishing and macabre crimes were revealed in a mass of NHS reports into his crimes published today.
Investigators discovered the late DJ and Top of the Pops presenter claimed at least 103 victims aged between five and 75.
Sick: New evidence revealed today that
Savile abused the dead and stole their glass eyes and turned them into
rings like these (pictured on his right hand). His victims were aged
between five and 75
Macabre: Savile with more rings on his
right hand. It's not known if these are the rings made from glass eyes
which he took from dead bodies at the mortuary of Leeds Royal Infirmary
They detailed his 50 year reign of terror at 28 institutions including Leeds, Broadmoor and Stoke Mandeville hospital.
Paedophile: Hundreds where abused by
Jimmy Savile in hospitals, who also boasted about having sex with
corpses and stealing their glass eyes
One witness told investigators that Savile revealed the origin of his 'gross, big silver rings' when she remarked on them.
He
said: 'D'you know what they are? They are glass eyes from dead bodies
in Leeds Mortuary where I work and I love working there, and I wheel the
dead bodies around at night and I love that.'
Another,
unconnected witness - who was employed at the hospital - added: 'I do
remember seeing this ring he had on that looked like an eyeball and -
and I must've mentioned it to him.
'He said: 'It's made from the eyeball of a dead friend.''
A former nurse at Broadmoor Hospital said Savile told her about his appalling activities in Leeds.
He said he would 'muck about' posing dead bodies of men and women together before taking photographs.
She
said: 'I was a little bit upset because I had no concept, in those
days, of - while I'd heard of necrophilia ... but I didn't understand
what it meant.'
The
nurse added that Savile said he sexually assaulted the bodies as well,
something he dubbed 'garamoosh' - a reference to oral sex.
A
separate report said a former patient at Barnet General Hospital in
London said nurses told her in 1983 that Savile 'liked to have sex with
dead bodies'.
Abuse: Jimmy Savile was given open
access to hospitals all over Britain where he attacked hundreds of
children, even when he was 82 and even took glass eyes from the dead and
abused their bodies
Evidence: One nurse at Broadmoor told
investigators how Savile 'mucked about' with dead bodies and also abused
them as well as 'wheeling them around' during the night
The
chairwoman of the independent investigation, Dr Sue Proctor said Savile
had 'expressed an interest in the dead' and said he 'would take bodies
to the morgue and carried out sex acts on them'.
He also said he 'wore huge rings that he said were made from the glass eyes of dead bodies,' she said.
The 28 reports outline in unprecedented detail Savile's sordid crimes between 1962 and 2009.
Officials spoke to hundreds of witnesses and retrieved thousands of archived documents.
They
revealed how Savile used his charming and manipulative personality to
open the doors of hospitals and access their most vulnerable patients.
He
also used his fundraising activities as a cover to further his
predatory sexual attacks, which targeted men and women, staff and
patients.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has today
apologised on behalf of the Government and the NHS for letting down the
victims and David Cameron’s official spokesman said the report findings
are ‘deeply shocking and underline why it’s important that lessons are
learnt.’
Jimmy
Savile's victims at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) ranged from
five-years-old to pensioners and included men, women, boys and girls.
Investigators
at the hospital found that staff were told about some of the incidents
but no allegations reached senior managers.
The
inquiry into his activities at LGI after he started his association in
1960 included the testimonies of 60 people who gave accounts of their
experiences with Savile to investigators - 33 of these were patients.
Three of these incidents were rapes, the investigators said.
The
Leeds team said 19 of those who came forward were under 16-years-old
and the age range was five to 75. They said the majority were teenagers
but 19 victims were hospital staff - all women.
The
inquiry panel said that he started working on the hospital radio
service and he then became a regular visitor to the hospital, as a
celebrity, a fundraiser and, from 1968, a volunteer porter.
It
said Savile enjoyed unrestricted access to the hospital as he raised
£3.5 million through his charity activities. This gave him the
opportunities he needed to indulge in abusive and inappropriate contact
with patients and staff.
Prolific: Jimmy Savile's victims at
Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) ranged from five-years-old to pensioners
and included men, women, boys and girls - including some who were dead
Manipulative: At Broadmoor
high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire Savile picked out some
of the most vulnerable patients and attacked them
He
had access to keys to various departments, had a series of offices in
the hospital and even had access to the mortuary, the panel said.
Access: Savile was trusted to move patients at hospitals but would sometimes attack them, often in plain sight
The
independent investigation interviewed more than 200 people and reviewed
more than 1,300 documents covering the 50 years Savile was associated
with LGI, which is now run by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
It
found that the first case of abuse reported to the team happened in
1962 when Savile was 36. The most recent was in 2009 when he was 82.
The
investigation panel found that incidents ranged from lewd remarks and
inappropriate touching to sexual assault and, in three cases, rape.
Forty three of the encounters took place in public areas such as wards, corridors and offices.
The
investigators found that nine victims told a member of staff about what
happened either directly or through their parents at the time of the
abuse. But they said none of these allegations were subsequently
communicated to people in more senior positions.
Among
the 28 hospitals investigated were Moss Side, in Liverpool, which is
now one of three top-security mental hospitals in England, along with
Rampton and Broadmoor.
Two
female former patients accused Savile of sexually abusing them in a
ward and a third allegation came from a male ex-patient who claimed that
he witnessed Savile stroke a patient's breast at a hospital social
event.
Investigators
found Savile raped a woman in a motor home at Digby Hospital, a mental
hospital in Exeter in 1970, while a former patient at the mental health
unit at High Royds Hospital, Leeds claimed Savile inappropriately
touched people during a fancy dress fun run in the 1980s.
Reporting
their findings, the panel said: 'It is clear from witness interviews
that had senior managers at the hospital been made aware of Savile's
abusive behaviour, they would have acted to stop it happening.'
Dr
Sue Proctor, said: ''Before saying anything about our findings, I want
to commend the courage of those former patients, staff and visitors to
Leeds General Infirmary who experienced abusive or inappropriate
encounters with Savile.
'Because
they came forward voluntarily and told us what happened to them, the
NHS in Leeds and across the country now has an opportunity and an
obligation to learn from their accounts and make sure that what happened
in Leeds at the hands of Savile can never happen again.
'The NHS is in their debt and I am truly grateful to each of them.'
Dr
Proctor said: 'For some, although the abuse took place decades ago,
their experience endures as a painful and upsetting memory that still
has an effect on them today.'
One child
repeatedly abused by Jimmy Savile from the age of nine was so desperate
to avoid being visited by the paedophile she cycled off a bridge.
The
girl fell 15ft and broke her arm but said the DJ still tracked her down
and sexually assaulted her again as she recovered in a Leeds hospital.
Access: Savile, pictured here in
Leeds, was given the freedom to wander round hospitals and even given
private rooms where he attacked girls and boys
She
was so traumatised by Savile's repeated abuse she avoided treatment for a
large birthmark on her face in case the star found her, and instead
tried to wash it off at home with bleach.
'I
looked at his hands and he had these gross, big silver rings with
bulbous things. And he said, "you know what they are? They are glass
eyes from dead bodies in Leeds Mortuary where I work and I love working
there, and I wheel the dead bodies around at night and I love that".'
- Witness who knew Savile in the 1970s
The
unnamed woman is one of more than 500 victims who were attacked by
Savile, considered Britain's worst ever paedophile, who died at 84 in
2011 having never been brought to justice.
Today 28 NHS trusts published reports revealing how their patients and staff were habitually abused by Savile.
Some
ignored complaints and even gave him keys, private rooms and access to
basements where he could grope or even rape his victims.
In other cases staff also agreed to move people from their beds to his accommodation, where he abused them.
At Leeds General Infirmary Savile himself was also made chief porter while working as a DJ, giving him access to all patients.
The girl who cycled off a bridge said Savile targeted her because she was disfigured, and used her to boost his own profile.
On one occasion she was picked up in his Rolls Royce and taken for laser surgey at St James' Hospital in Leeds.
'Savile began to kiss my port-wine stain. He nuzzled into my neck and put his hand up my skirt,' she told The Sun.
Habitual abuser: Savile, pictured with
Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutclifffe and Frank Bruno at Broadmoor, where
he also abused vulnerable patients
Over three years he continued to abuse her, even after she jumped from the Yorkshire bridge.
Access: Savile exercising on a
trampoline at his private residence inside the walls of Broadmoor,
giving him access to people he wanted to abuse
She
said: 'Again he kissed and slavered over me. I knew I couldn't stop
him." She ended treatment telling her parents: "I'd rather live with my
birthmark".'
Another
victim said that she was taken by a porter to the basement at Leeds
General and abused. She said she told nurses what happened but 'they
just laughed'.
Their
cases have been considered as part of a wider investigation into his
abuse on NHS premises, primarily in Leeds and the high-security
psychiatric Broadmoor Hospital.
He also abused many at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, but their report has been delayed until the autumn.
NSPCC
figures show of his hundreds of victims the most common age group was
13 to 15 - and the youngest alleged victim was just two years old. He
abused both girls and boys.
In
addition, fears that Savile abused children in more than 20 children's
homes and schools across England are also being investigated.
Allegations
dating back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s have been handed to the
Department for Education (DfE) following a review of documents by the
Metropolitan Police.
Local
authorities and other relevant institutions have been asked to further
investigate the claims, Education Secretary Michael Gove said in a
written statement.
Among
children's homes and schools to be further investigated are Henshaw
School for the Blind, one of four institutions in Savile's birthplace of
Leeds, and a Barnardo's children's home in the London Borough of
Redbridge.
Children's homes and schools in focus are spread across England.
These include areas like Bournemouth, Devon, Gloucestershire, Leeds, London and Manchester among others.
Savile exploited trust of a nation for his own vile purposes, says Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt
By Matt Chorley, Political Editor
Apology: Jeremy Hunt today said sorry
Savile's victims who were 'ignored' by people and institutions who
'turned a blind eye' to his abuse
The
vile abuse perpetrated by Jimmy Savile in hospitals across the country
will ‘shake the whole country to the core’, Jeremy Hunt said today as he
issued an official apology to the paedophile’s victims.
The
Health Secretary said ‘time and again’ victims were ignored because
Savile was seen as a ‘somewhat eccentric national treasure.
In
reality he was a sickening sex abuser who ‘exploited the trust of a
nation for his own vile purposes’, Mr Hunt told a stunned House of
Commons.
Details of the later DJ’s reign of terror in NHS hospitals across the country were revealed in 28 reports released today.
The
Investigations discovered at least 60 victims aged between five and 75
at 28 institutions including Leeds, Broadmoor and Stoke Mandeville
hospital.
Savile boasted about having sex with corpses and had jewellery made from glass eyes he removed from their bodies.
Mr Hunt said some of the accounts revealed in the ‘litany’ of abuse were ‘too horrific’ to repeat in the House of Commons.
Mr Hunt told MPs: ‘Today’s reports will shake this House and our country to the core.
‘Savile
was a callous, opportunistic, wicked predator who abused and raped
individuals, many of them patients and young people, who expected and
had a right to expect to be safe. His actions span five decades – from
the 1960s to 2010.
‘The family favourite loved by millions courted popularity and used it to perpetrate and cover up his own evil acts.’
During
five decades of abuse, Savile used his celebrity to gain access to
patients on wards and ‘inexplicably’ was even allowed to watch female
patients stripped naked for bathing, Mr Hunt said.
‘As
a nation at that time we held Savile in our affection as a somewhat
eccentric national treasure with a strong commitment to charitable
causes. ‘Today’s reports show that in reality he was a sickening and
prolific sexual abuser who repeatedly exploited the trust of a nation
for his own vile purposes.’
Even
when victims did speak out, they were ignored by staff who either did
not believe them or were afraid of the power Savile was able to wield.
Mr
Hunt went on: ‘The systems in place to protect people were either too
weak or were ignored. People and institutions turned a blind eye.
‘So
today I want to apologise on behalf of the Government and the NHS to
all the victims who were abused by Savile in NHS-run institutions.
‘We let them down badly and however long ago it may have been, many of them are still reliving the pain they went through.’
He
urged MPs to remember Savile’s victims: ‘They were brave. They have
been vindicated. Savile was a coward. He has been disgraced.
‘The system failed to prevent him from abusing. It failed to act when people spoke up. We must not allow this to happen again.’
Savile’s victims could receive compensation from the taxpayer for the abuse which occurred on NHS premises.
The DJ and Top of the Pops’ presenter’s estate is to be used by the authorities to offer financial recompense to his victims.
But if the money left in his will runs out, the government will step in.
In
the Commons, Labour’s shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘Given
what has been revealed, shouldn’t the government now consider
allocating public finances to ensure all people damaged by Savile are
properly supported and compensated.’
In
response, Mr Hunt said: ‘The government will underwrite this so if
there are any claims that are not able to be met by the estate we will
finance that from the public purse.
‘But we do think the estate is the first place to start, for obvious reasons.’
'I WAS TAKEN TO DEPTHS OF LEEDS HOSPITAL AND ABUSED BY SAVILE': TEENAGER SAYS NHS 'BETRAYED' HER AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS
Savile carried out hundreds of attacks over fifty years but was never prosecuted
A
woman who was sexually assaulted as an ill teenager by Jimmy Savile in
the basement of a hospital wants reassurances such abuse can never
happen again.
Savile's
victim, who asked to be identified only as Jane, said she spent decades
believing she was the disgraced presenter's 'chosen one', not realising
hundreds of others had suffered like her.
The
now 57-year-old, who was assaulted in Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) in
1973, said she felt 'utterly disgusted' after the dead entertainer
forced her to perform a sex act on him and was 'shocked' when the full
extent of his abuse was revealed nearly two years ago.
The
married mother-of-one said the assault followed what she now realises
was a short period of grooming by radio and TV star Savile, who was
volunteering at the hospital.
As
the findings of a series of investigations into Savile's abuse at NHS
hospitals are published, Jane, who lives in Yorkshire, said she wants an
apology from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, who she accuses of
'betraying' her.
Jane, who was an in-patient of the LGI, being treated for the effects of a nervous breakdown.
In
late 1973, Savile struck up a conversation with Jane on the hospital
ward, when he was volunteering as a porter, which she described as
containing around 30 to 35 beds.
A few days after their first conversation, Savile asked Jane to accompany him out of the hospital.
'He must have cleared it with staff that they were happy for me to go off the ward,' the 57-year-old said.
'He
took me down the stairs, out of the hospital, across the grounds and
out to a newsagent shop, which was just outside the front steps. I don't
think it's there now.'
'He went in and said 'my friend's been poorly, let's make her better'.
'I
always remember this - the whole Jimmy Savile thing is like a snapshot
in my mind - he actually cleared the whole counter with his arm. So
there were magazines, papers, sweets, you name it, on the counter and
they were delivered to the ward that afternoon.'
She added: 'At that time, it was like I was the chosen one. Down the line, it's obviously grooming, we know this.'
A
few days after her trip to the newsagent, a porter approached Jane and
said Savile wanted to see her. The porter took the then teenager down
some stairs into 'depths of Leeds General Infirmary', along an
underground passage with huge heating pipes along it, before approaching
a door.
The
mother-of-one said: 'He knocked on the door, not a word was said, he
knocked on the door and opened the door. And there was Jimmy Savile
leaning up against the wall.'
Savile
was dressed in a T-shirt and jogging trousers, Jane said, and then
kissed her and abused her, touching her intimately and forcing her to
perform a sex act.
Jane said Savile 'came up for breath' and asked if she was taking the contraceptive pill, to which she replied 'no'.
'The whole thing only happened five or six minutes, this was how long the whole thing was,' she said.
Jane, who went on to work as a nurse, said she was taken back to the bottom of the stairs leading back to the ward.
When she attempted to explain what happened to the nurses, she was cut short with laughter.
'I
said to the nurses 'you wouldn't believe what's just happened'. I got
as far as 'Jimmy' and they just laughed and that was the end of the
episode.'
Jane said she has always been honest and open about what happened with friends and family.
She
said: 'My mother believed me, she said "but the thing is, he's such a
celebrity, who's going to believe you, love?" And she was right.'
Jane said she wants an apology from the hospital and its trust.
'In
my opinion, the hospital let me down. They let me down by allowing that
to happen, but they also let me down two years ago when they didn't
acknowledge it had happened.'
'The
fact that they just didn't even reply to my emails until I really
bombarded them, and then they did. That's like I was betrayed twice, let
down twice, the fact they didn't believe me.'
She
added: 'I want an apology and to have assurances put in place that it
won't happen again - no, that it can't happen again.'
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