Thames Valley Savile Sex Abuse Scandal

11 January 2013, 13:38

A report in abuse committed by Jimmy Savile has found there were 30 reports in the Thames Valley - including at two hospitals.

The disgraced TV presenter used his celebrity status to "hide in plain sight'', with 214 criminal offences now recorded against him across 28 police forces, a report by Scotland Yard and the NSPCC found.

It also revealed that Savile abused his victims at 14 medical sites including hospitals, mental health units and even a hospice.

Alison Levitt QC, legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said Savile could have been prosecuted in 2009 had police taken victims more seriously.

There were 22 reported cases of abuse at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, between 1965 and 1988. Savile was a fundraiser and volunteer at the hospital. 

He had an office in the main building and a flat on site. Anne Eden, chief executive of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the trust set up an independent investigation into allegations of abuse last year. 

She said: "The investigation is serious and complex and is currently reviewing files and records from the last 40 years before it moves on to meeting and hearing from witnesses. 

"We expect it to complete the investigatory part of the work by the summer and to complete the report by the end of 2013.''

According to the report, patients at four psychiatric hospitals, including Broadmoor, have come forward to report incidents. 

Savile had his own set of keys to Broadmoor, in Berkshire. He also had an office and flat outside the main building.

He has been accused of committing one offence there in 1991. Steve Shrubb, chief executive of West London Mental Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "The trust welcomes the Metropolitan Police report into the alleged criminal activities perpetrated by Jimmy Savile. The scale and nature of the incidents described in the report is deeply distressing for all those involved.'' 

He said the trust had commissioned its own investigation into Savile's activities at Broadmoor.

"The investigation team have already begun reviewing thousands of files and records as part of the information gathering process and they will meet with witnesses in due course,'' he said. "The trust expects to be able to submit a final report to the trust board and the Department of Health by year-end.''