Freddie Starr rearrested over sex claims by Savile probe detectives

The entertainer answered bail yesterday and was arrested for a second time over additional claims.

Scotland Yard said that a man in his sixties had been “further arrested on suspicion of sexual offences in connection with further allegations made to Operation Yewtree”.

Starr is one of 12 people who have been arrested under Operation Yewtree, the national investigation prompted by allegations against disgraced entertainer Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011 aged 84

Run by the Metropolitan Police, it has been split into three strands – allegations against Savile, those against Savile and others, and those against others.

Starr was originally arrested under the “Savile and others” strand last year, but the re-arrest is not linked to Savile. He has denied any wrongdoing.

In November Starr denied claims he had groped a teenager in Savile’s BBC dressing room in 1974, and urged police to question him so he might clear his name and said he would hire private detectives to look into the accusations and prove his innocence.

Among the 11 others arrested so far as part of Yewtree, former pop star Gary Glitter, DJ Dave Lee Travis, Jim Davidson, and PR guru Max Clifford all deny any wrongdoing.

Artist and presenter Rolf Harris, 83, was revealed this week to have been arrested over allegations not linked to Savile on March 28 but has made no comment. He has been bailed until a date next month.

After his arrest last December, Clifford said the allegations against him were “totally without any foundation and they are totally untrue”.

Davidson and Travis were both arrested and later re-arrested after further allegations. Both maintained their innocence throughout.

Travis said that he strongly denied any wrongdoing, he had co-operated with the police and his “conscience is clear”.

Davidson’s solicitor Henri Brandman has said the allegations against his client dated back several years, were made by complainants who were adults at the time and the comedian “vigorously denies” their claims.

Operation Yewtree has recorded 450 complaints against Savile, who has been described as one of the UK’s “most prolific known sexual predators”.

In a report by Scotland Yard and the NSPCC, released in January, his victims were revealed to have included an eight-year-old boy and a seriously ill teenager during a reign of sexual abuse spanning 54 years.