120 lines of inquiry for police on Savile sex abuse

Scotland Yard yesterday said it was pursuing 120 lines of inquiry relating to alleged abuse by the late showbiz legend and charity fundraiser.

Detectives believe as many as 25 victims may have suffered at Leeds-born Savile’s hands over the past 40 years.

Eight criminal allegations have been formally recorded, including two accusations of rape.

The claims date back as far as 1959, although the majority of incidents are said to have happened in the 1970s and 1980s, and most involved girls aged in their mid-teens.

Commander Peter Spindler, head of specialist crime investigations at the Met, said: “We are getting calls from victims, from witnesses and third parties who believe they know something about it.

“It is too early for us to give you an accurate picture of what 120 lines of inquiry will distil down to, but we believe we will come up with between 20 and 25 victims.”

He said that, from the allegations made, it appeared Savile had a “predilection for teenage girls”.

Mr Spindler also revealed he had been in contact with Leeds General Infirmary, where the BBC TV and radio host regularly worked as a volunteer porter.

He said: “The pattern of [Savile’s] offending behaviour does appear to be on a national scale.”

The Met, which has codenamed the probe Operation Yewtree, hopes to present a final report into the scandal within a matter of weeks.

It is also working to identify any living people involved with the case who could be subject to criminal investigation.

Yesterday’s developments came as David Cameron raised the prospect of Savile being posthumously stripped of his knighthood.

The Prime Minister suggested the case should be considered by a Whitehall committee which has the power to recommend forfeiture.

Mr Cameron told ITV’s Daybreak programme: “These stories are deeply, deeply troubling and I hope that every organisation that has responsibilities will have a proper investigation into what happened, and if these things did happen, and how they were allowed to happen, and then of course everyone has to take their responsibilities.”

Asked if Savile should lose his knighthood, Mr Cameron said: “We have something called a Forfeiture Committee. It is not chaired or sat on by me but it is responsible for looking at honours and the removal of honours, and obviously they have to do their job too.”

Under current rules, however, Savile cannot be stripped of the honour. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: “[A knighthood] is a living order and then you cease to be a member when you die. There isn’t an honour to revoke.”

Many of Savile’s alleged victims made contact with police following an ITV documentary last week in which five women said he indecently assaulted them. Some claim to have been attacked on BBC premises and the corporation has pledged to carry out its own inquiry once the police investigation has run its course.

Savile died at his home in Leeds last October at the age of 84.

One of his accusers has also alleged she was groped by comedian Freddie Star in a BBC dressing room following a recording of Savile’s TV show Clunk Click in 1974. Starr has denied the allegations by the woman, then 14, who has also made unsubstantiated claims against Gary Glitter.