Applause in court as Savile’s ‘shadow’, DJ Ray Teret jailed for 25 years

Ex-Radio Caroline and Piccadilly Radio presenter Ray Teret, 73, used his celebrity status in the Manchester club scene in the 1960s and 1970s to prey on his under-age victims who were between 13 and 15.

Teret - known as Ugly Ray - was mentored by Savile in the early days of his career and was described as following him around “like a shadow”, his trial heard.

Sentencing him at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court today, Mr Justice Baker said: “It is clear that you exploited your celebrity status to sexually abuse young girls when they were between 13 and 15 years of age.

“Those who were raped had little or no understanding what was happening to them and felt they could do little to prevent the abuse taking place.”

He said Teret’s “ill-judged cynicism” that his victims would not come forward was matched by his belief that the jury would not believe their accounts.

The public gallery, which contained a number of complainants in the case, erupted into applause when the sentence was passed.

One woman shouted “Yes” and another said “Monster” as he was led to the cells. Teret shook his head in the dock after the judge completed his remarks.

Last week a jury found him guilty of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults which took place between 1963 and 1979. He was cleared of various sexual offences in relation to six other complainants.

In the wake of the trial, Greater Manchester Police confirmed they are investigating fresh sex allegations against Teret made by four other women.

Detective Chief Inspector Graham Brock said: “After decades of hiding behind the veneer of being a distinguished radio presenter, Ray Teret has finally been exposed as the manipulative and dangerous sexual predator that he is.”

He said Teret “cast a dark shadow” over his victims’ lives, adding: “I know from speaking to them personally how devastating the effects of his abuse have been. They have courageously relived their ordeal at court and should be applauded for having the bravery to speak out and bring this man to justice for his appalling crimes.

“Since his trial began, we have received four new complaints about Teret and our officers will now be investigating these fresh allegations. For obvious reasons I cannot go into great detail about those complaints.”

The judge said Teret’s abuse had led to some victims committing self-harm, some sought solace in alcohol, others needed psychiatric and medical treatment, while many had difficulties in forming relationships with partners and their own children.

He said the “catalyst” of the case was the media publicity that followed the death of Savile as complainants started coming forward against the defendant.

He told Teret: “Thereafter when a few of your victims disclosed to the police, others came forward and frankly told the police that without the support of those other victims they did not feel their account would be believed.”

Common themes in Teret’s offending was the selection of young girls who were both “physically and emotionally immature”, his initial approach to them to make them feel special and his “audacity towards some of them that they should feel grateful they had lost their virginity to you rather than anyone else”, said Mr Justice Baker.

Six of his victims were raped while five were “so awed” by Teret’s celebrity status that they consented to having sex with him, the court was told.

He said: “All the girls were used for your own sexual gratification.

“My judgment is it is not near coincidence that each of those girls were between 13 and 15 when you abused them ... I am sure you have a sexual interest in girls of that age.”

Teret, of Woodlands Road, Altrincham, who denied all the charges, told the jury he had no interest in underage teenage girls, despite a previous conviction for sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl in 1999 - which he says was a miscarriage of justice.

The judge said after reading the papers in that case he was “satisfied” that Teret was guilty of that offence.

Opening the case, prosecutor Tim Evans said: “The Crown say that young teenage girls, far from doing nothing for him, were consistently pursued by him through the ‘60s and ‘70s.”

Many of the victims were starstruck with DJs who were treated like “royalty” in that era, said Mr Evans.

He said: ‘’The basic set-up, the background is the same - a naive girl who has the headlights of fame shone on her, who is taken to a flat and without any understanding of what is going on, has a male many years older having sex with her.’’

Giving evidence, Teret told the prosecutor that men who pounced on a girl and hoped to get away with it “want shooting” and he had never been in that situation.

He said: “I only make love. Not sex, sir. I only make love with ladies who want to make love with me.”

Teret was cleared of aiding and abetting Savile to rape a 15-year-old girl in the early 1960s but was found guilty himself of raping the same complainant.

Teret was sentenced to 25 years for seven counts of rape, 18 months for five indecent assaults and 12 months for six indecent assaults, all terms to run concurrently.

The judge said: “Anyone who considers that society was a better place then than now to be a child would do well to reflect upon the evidence that this trial disclosed about that period - when sex education, to the extent that it was taught, was rudimentary and sexual matters in general were little discussed within the home.

“That state of ignorance was one of the main facilitators of your ability to exploit these young girls. None of whom, with the exception of two whose vulnerability was enhanced by having previously been sexually abused by others, had any prior sexual experience.

“In the main you did not have to use force to abuse these girls, as the combination of their naivety and your celebrity was such that they willingly came with you to the various locations where you abused them.

“Thereafter their wholly unwarranted feelings of guilt and shame prevented them in the main from disclosing what you had done to them, either to their parents or the authorities.

“The immediate effect of your abuse of these girls ranged from feelings of disgust and degradation, so that they never wanted to have anything more to do with you, through to their being so corrupted that they became promiscuous both with yourself and others.

“To use the modern idiom you ‘groomed’ your victims, some of whom were plied with alcohol and allowed to smoke cigarettes, whilst others were impressed with the accoutrements of your relative wealth and fashion, as a beguiling contrast to the strictness and austerity of their own homes.

“You appeared to be kind and charming, and in relation to one of your victims, who was particularly vulnerable by reason of having already been sexually abused by another, you feigned sympathy and understanding before taking advantage of the situation and raping her.

“You can have no justifiable complaint that most if not all of your remaining life may be served in prison, as you have maintained your liberty in the intervening period since the commission of the offences for which you are to be punished.”

The public gallery balcony was packed, with one woman weeping throughout the sentencing.

One woman stood up and clapped loudly when the jail term was announced, while a man shouted “Smile?” towards Teret as he left the dock.