Savile chauffeur to deny sex abuse charges

Ray Teret, 72, Jimmy Savile's former flatmate and chauffeur

Ray Teret, 72, is accused of 32 offences involving 14 youngsters and a 17-year-old.

The former pirate radio DJ is charged with 15 counts of rape of a female under 16, one count of rape, one count of attempted rape of a female under 16, six counts of indecent assault of a female under 16, three counts of indecent assault of a female under 14 and one count of gross indecency with a child under 13.

Teret, of Woodlands Road, Altrincham, also faces two counts of conspiracy to rape a girl under 16, one count of possession of extreme pornography, one count of possession of prohibited images and one count of possession of an indecent image of a child.

Entering the dock for yesterday’s preliminary hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court wearing a suit, black coat and purple scarf, he nodded to confirm his name.

The court heard that he would be contesting the charges against him.

Following the 30-minute hearing he was granted bail until his next scheduled date at the same court on April 17 next year for a formal plea and case management hearing.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place in Manchester, with the vast majority dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Greater Manchester Police have stated that the claims against him are not linked to the national inquiry into abuse by disgraced TV presenter Savile.

Two other men appeared alongside Teret in the dock after they were charged as part of the same investigation.

William Harper, 65, of Ash Grove, Stretford, is charged with conspiracy to rape a girl under 16 and the attempted rape of a female under the age of 16, and Alan Ledger, 62, of Normans Place, Altrincham, is charged with indecent assault of a female under 16 and aiding and abetting the rape of a female under 16.

They too would be entering not guilty pleas, the court heard.

Both men were also granted bail by Judge Peter Lakin to reappear with Teret on April 17.

Teret’s bail conditions are that he must not apply for international travel documents, must live and stay each night at his home address, sign in at his local police station three times each week, have no unsupervised contact with any person aged under 16 and not to contact directly or indirectly any of the complainants in the case, none of whom can be named for legal reasons.

He later left the court with his barrister Virginia Hayton and made no comment as he held a pair of gloves to his mouth while photographers and TV camera crews gathered around him.