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immy Savile gave job to chief porter who had keys to the wards
Key details of how Jimmy Savile was able to gain access to NHS wards, where he abused patients, can be disclosed today.
Savile was first invited into the Leeds hospital by its chief porter, who went on to become a paid employee of the disc jockey Photo: REX
By Jason Lewis, and Claire Duffin9:02AM GMT 04 Nov 2012
Savile used his fame for decades to cover up his activities at three hospitals – Leeds General Infirmary, Stoke Mandeville and Broadmoor.
Until now it has been unclear how he came to be given rooms and keys without questions being asked.
The Telegraph can disclose that Savile was first invited into the Leeds hospital by its chief porter, who went on to become a paid employee of the disc jockey while still working at the hospital.
And his involvement at Broadmoor was rubber-stamped in 1974 by Dr David Owen, now Lord Owen, who was health minister, government papers in the National Archives disclose.
Savile had accommodation at all three hospitals and came to be in charge of Broadmoor for a period in the 1980s when he was put in charge of a task force to run the secure hospital.
Ministers have ordered inquiries into how the NHS came to allow him such access, but key details have now been uncovered that cast new light on his activities.
He was first involved in Leeds General Infirmary in 1961 when he was asked by its chief porter, Charles Hullighan, to help its new hospital radio station, and promptly volunteered as a porter.
Savile had already been questioned by police over allegations of having sex with under-age girls at dance halls he ran across the north, and had become a pirate radio disc jockey. Before he died in 1995, Mr Hullighan said: "James came to the infirmary as a volunteer porter for a few days in 1961 and he stayed for a long time. He was always available to help.
"Jimmy gave great pleasure to so many patients, and adding the many touches of humour that is so natural to his character."
Mr Hullighan became an extremely close friend of the DJ, to the extent that in 1972 he was made company secretary of the firm that dealt with Savile's earnings, despite having no business background.
It is not known whether he told hospital authorities of the business relationship, but Savile paid him a salary and contributions towards a pension, and Mr Hullighan was able to have homes in Leeds and Scarborough.
Exactly what Mr Hullighan earned is not disclosed, but in 1981, when Savile was at the height of his fame, he shared in directors' pay of £91,500, the equivalent of about £310,000 today.
Last week Mr Hullighan's widow, Beryl, declined to discuss Savile or her husband's involvement.
It can also be disclosed that the disgraced star's unrestricted role at Broadmoor secure hospital, where allegedly he sexually abused vulnerable patients, was approved by ministers at the time.
A Whitehall report signed off by Lord Owen revealed his appointment as honorary entertainments officer.
The confidential hospital advisory service report was sent to ministers in February 1974 and recommended that some patients at the secure hospital be allowed conjugal visits, supervised shopping trips, mixed wards where patients due for release could adjust to a more normal social life and "halfway house" hostels in the community.
The report by civil servants, found in the National Archives, has a section on the BBC star that says: "We were pleased to meet Jimmy Savile for a discussion of his work as Honorary Assistant Entertainments Officer."
Savile used the title and was given an office in the grounds of the hospital, a bedroom, which he called his "cell", and his own set of keys to the wards.
The report, which also went to Barbara Castle, then health secretary, outlined how Savile had raised money for a minibus for patients' families and disco equipment, and said: "Apart from the undoubted pleasure the hospital gains from having him around… he has pioneered outings for patients and has overcome opposition from outside and inside the hospital to these ventures.
"His energy, enthusiasm, sincerity and devotion to Broadmoor and its patients and staff are infectious and he performs the function of an unofficial but very successful public-relations officer outside the hospital, which can only be of great benefit for Broadmoor as a whole."
According to the surviving papers, neither Lord Owen nor officials raised any questions or passed any comment about Savile's role.
The Department of Health is now investigating the background to his appointment in 1988 as head of a task force overseeing the hospital.
Jimmy Savile gave job to chief porter who had keys to the wards - Telegraph
Senior Tories accused over child abuse - Telegraph
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Senior Tories accused over child abuse
Two senior Conservative figures were named during an official inquiry into widespread child abuse at children’s homes.
Steve Messham told Newsnight that he was abused by a leading Conservative politician while he was a child in care Photo: BBC/Newsnight
By Patrick Sawer, and Jason Lewis9:00PM GMT 03 Nov 2012
The inquiry, established to examine allegations of abuse, heard claims that a paedophile ring operating from children’s homes included policemen, social workers and other prominent public figures.
Their identities were protected by an order from Sir Ronald Waterhouse QC, the retired High Court judge in charge of the 1997 North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal of Inquiry, after he dismissed the claims they had taken part in abuse as “fantasy”.
But there are now calls for the allegations to be re-examined in the light of the Jimmy Savile scandal, which has engulfed the BBC and parts of the NHS, with claims that his predatory abuse of young teenage girls over three decades was covered up at a time when victims were less likely to be taken seriously.
On Saturday night the calls were backed by Keith Towler, the children's commissioner for Wales, who told BBC Radio 5's Saturday Edition programme: "I would support a full inquiry. Unless you do that, the level of suspicion will always be around that there is a cover-up... No-one should be protected.”
One of the alleged victims of the north Wales abuse ring has now asked for a meeting with David Cameron to discuss his accusations, in the light of the Prime Minister’s statement, following the Savile revelations, that victims of abuse must be heard.
Police failed to interview head of abuse school 30 Oct 2012
Steve Messham said: “He’s made a statement, a sweeping statement that abused people need to be believed. It’s time he knew the truth. It’s time a full investigation took place and until I can meet with him and get some reassurance I don’t believe we will get anywhere.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “If someone is concerned that an allegation was reported in the past but not fully investigated, they should raise this with the police or relevant authority so that they can look again at what happened.”
During the Waterhouse inquiry it was claimed that abuse took place at the country home of a senior Tory politician and at parties.
Sir Ronald ordered the media not to publish the names of the alleged members of the paedophile ring.
He ruled that the media could not report the name of any living person who was accused of abusing children in the North Wales homes unless they had previously been convicted of such an offence.
When the names of two leading Tory politicians were mentioned in evidence Sir Ronald, who died last year, dismissed the claims as “embarking in the realm of fantasy” and said that they were an example of the problematic “nature of some of the allegations” the inquiry was being asked to examine.
All those named as members of the alleged ring denied the charges, either in evidence to the tribunal or through their lawyers.
One of the politicians named at the inquiry - a former confidante of Margaret Thatcher, who is still alive but retired from public life - has firmly denied any involvement.
The latest allegations follow claims last week that another of Baroness Thatcher’s closest aides was implicated in the north Wales scandal.
Rod Richards, a former Conservative MP, claimed he had seen evidence linking Sir Peter Morrison to the case.
Sir Peter, who was a Tory MP and Lady Thatcher’s parliamentary private secretary, died in 1995 at the age of 51. It is not thought that he was named at the Waterhouse inquiry.
The official report of the inquiry, published in February 2000, concluded that widespread abuse had taken place at residential children’s homes in north Wales between 1974 and 1900.
It found that a paedophile ring did exist in the Wrexham and Chester areas, with adult men targeting boys in their mid-teens, particularly those in care.
However, the report said the inquiry had seen no evidence that prominent public figures were involved in the ring.
The report, called Lost In Care, stated: “No evidence has been presented to the Tribunal or to the North Wales Police to establish that there was a wide-ranging conspiracy involving prominent persons and others with the objective of sexual activity with children in care.”
But Mr Messham told BBC’s Newsnight on Friday that the inquiry had uncovered just a fraction of the abuse.
He said: “You were taken by car, where basically you were sexually abused. Various things would happen, drink would be involved, it was basically rape. But it wasn’t just him, there be other people involved as well.
“In the home it was the standard abuse which was violent and sexual. Outside it was like you were sold, we were taken to the Crest Hotel in Wrexham, mainly on Sunday nights, where they would rent rooms.”
When asked how many times he was abused by the politician Mr Messham said: “I couldn’t give an exact number as it goes back many years, but certainly more than a dozen.”
In his Newsnight interview Mr Messham also said that he had gone to the police in the late 1970s to report the abuse, but that he was not believed. He said that his statements to the police included allegations of sexual abuse against the politician.
Allegations of abuse at Welsh children’s homes first surfaced in the mid 1980s when Alison Taylor, a senior social worker at a care home in Bangor, reported her suspicions to her superiors.
After becoming dissatisfied with their response she took her concerns to Malcolm King, the new chairman of Clwyd county council’s social services, in 1991, who reported them to the police.
In March 1994 Clwyd County Council commissioned an independent inquiry into the claims. However, Clwyd’s inquiry report was never published and the copies were pulped to ensure that the local authority was able to maintain its insurance cover.
Amid growing public pressure William Hague, the-then Secretary of State for Wales, ordered an inquiry into the allegations.
The Waterhouse inquiry heard evidence from more than 650 people who had been in care from 1974 and took almost three years to publish its report.
One of the principal offenders identified by the report was Peter Howarth the deputy principal of the Bryn Estyn children’s home in Clwyd. Howarth was convicted in July 1994 of eight sexual offences and received a total of 10 years in prison. He died in April 1997.
Also named was Steven Norris, another senior member of staff at Bryn Estyn, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1993 after pleading guilty to seven sexual offences.
The latest allegations come after Tom Watson, the deputy chairman of the Labour Party, claimed in the House of Commons last week that a paedophile ring may have had links to Downing Street under a former Prime Minister.
Mr Watson said there was “clear evidence” that a Number 10 aide was connected to Peter Righton, who was convicted in 1992 of importing child pornography, and urged police to investigate the allegations.
He has not named the aide or said who was Prime Minister at the time.
Additional reporting by Claire Duffin and Amanda Rosas
New BBC row over Newsnight 'paedophile' politician probe - Telegraph
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New BBC row over Newsnight 'paedophile' politician probe
The BBC has become embroiled in a new row over a Newsnight investigation which planned to out a senior political figure as a paedophile.
Steve Messham told Newsnight that he was abused by a leading Conservative politician while he was a child in care Photo: BBC/Newsnight
By Steven Swinford, and Sam Marsden8:46PM GMT 02 Nov 2012
The politician told The Telegraph he denied the claims, which relate to alleged abuse at a children's home, and would sue the Corporation if they were aired.
The show, broadcast on Friday night, did not name the politician.
The investigation comes after the BBC was accused of covering up a previous Newsnight investigation into allegations that Jimmy Savile abused children.
Journalists at the flagship current affairs programme accused the BBC of pulling their report last December because the Corporation had planned Christmas tribute shows about the late presenter and DJ.
Details of Newsnight’s latest probe leaked out at 10am on Friday morning after a Tweet by Iain Overton, editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which had been working on the story for the BBC.
"If all goes well we've got a Newsnight out tonight about a very senior political figure who is a paedophile," he wrote.
Rob Wilson, the Conservative MP for Reading East, said Newsnight’s handling of the highly sensitive allegations about a senior politician raised fresh questions about the BBC's management.
He said: “The BBC has all the hallmarks of an organisation that has gone into a tailspin and doesn’t have the day-to-day effective leadership it needs to get out of it.
“Having gone through the Newsnight debacle, one would have hoped that the BBC would have instituted a rigorous editorial process that would ensure mistakes were not repeated.”
Two of Newsnight’s three most senior editors have left in the past fortnight. Peter Rippon was forced to step aside as editor last week after the BBC said there were “errors” in a website blog he wrote about why he halted the Savile investigation, and deputy editor Shaminder Nahal joined Channel 4 News this week.
A source close to the BBC yesterday confirmed the film about the politician was being looked at by lawyers.
The Telegraph has learned that the claims centre on historic allegations about a paedophile ring at a children's home.
The politician, who does not want to be named, told The Daily Telegraph the allegations were "totally untrue".
He said: “The BBC ain't what it used to be. I've never been to this children's home. The fact is that if they publish anything about me they will get a writ in the morning, I wouldn't wait two minutes.”
Lord Rees-Mogg, a former Vice-Chairman of the BBC's Board of Governors, said it was "odd" that details of the investigation emerged before it had been seen by the corporation's lawyers.
"When you have story which is potentially libellous there is a process to go through before you publish anything about it. You would have thought they would have gone to the lawyers,” he said.
Tom Watson, the deputy chairman of the Labour Party, claimed in the House of Commons last week that a paedophile ring may have had links to Downing Street under a former Prime Minister.
Mr Watson said there was “clear evidence” that a Number 10 aide was connected to Peter Righton, who was convicted in 1992 of importing child pornography, and urged police to investigate the allegations.
He has not named the aide or said who was Prime Minister at the time.
A Scotland Yard investigation set up last month to examine alleged historic sexual abuse by Savile and others has identified about 300 potential victims, all but two of them women, and is following up more than 400 lines of inquiry.
Freddie Starr returned to a police station on Friday to answer further questions about a claim that he tried to molest a 14-year-old girl in Savile’s BBC dressing room in the 1970s.
The 69-year-old entertainer was arrested on Thursday night by detectives from the Savile sexual abuse investigation team and held for over seven hours before being released on bail at about 1am.
Mr Starr, who has strenuously denied the allegation made against him, left his Warwickshire home at lunchtime on Friday to go back for more questioning by the officers. He was later bailed again until next month.
