Jimmy Savile Sex Abuse Victim, Ms A, Was Told By Police 'Court Would Not Believe You'

Savile's Lawyers Will Make 'Mincemeat' Of You, Victim Was Told

A woman who claims she was abused by Jimmy Savile told police that she was molested by the DJ in his caravan, but was told by police at the time that if she continued to make the allegations Savile's lawyers would make "mincemeat" out of her.

The woman, known only as Ms A, is one of the cases detailed in the Scotland Yard and NSPCC report into abuse committed by Savile over 54 years, had considered pressing charges but police warned her off challenging the reputation of a "big celebrity."

Ms A says she was indecently assaulted by Jimmy Savile in 1970 when she was in her early twenties; but was in her sixties at the time she reported it to the police in 2008.

Jimmy Savile, the subject of the detailed police and NSPCC report

The report describes how Ms A had offered Savile a free holiday at her mother's B&B which he had declined, in 1968, but two years later a chauffeur driving a large Rolls Royce arrived unannounced at her house to take her to see Jimmy Savile. Ms A said that she was shocked but her husband encouraged her to go.

The report reveals: "He started saying things to her such as "you are lovely; I'd like to lock you up in a cupboard and you'd be with me all the time", and that he could get her a job on Top of the Pops.

"She was then pushed down onto the bed, ending up on her back; he was lying next to her and started to touch her breasts over her clothes.

"He asked if she was on the pill and she replied: "no, I don't do that sort of thing". He then called her something like a "little dolly bird" and took hold of one of her hands and placed it on his groin. His penis was erect; he moved her hand up and down until she pulled her hand away.

"He then sat up, asked her whether she had her bus fare home and told her that she could choose something from the caravan as a memento.

"She picked a small crucifix with a deer at the foot, and he told her that he had been given it in Belgium. She still has it; indeed she brought it when we met so that I could see it."

Ms A, who told her family and colleague what happened, did not report the abuse, and shortly afterwards emigrated from the UK.

Returning to the country and seeing Jimmy Savile on TV, she wrote a letter in 2007 to The Sun, who asked to interview her, telling her that "a lot of others" had experience similar abuse.

In March 2008, the reporter came to her doorstep and asked her again to report the matter to the police, and after some persuasion, the woman rang Sussex police.

A reporter holds a copy of a report into the sexual allegations of the late TV star, Jimmy Savile outside New Scotland Yard

The police report quoted in the Jimmy Savile investigation said: "We discussed the various options open to Ms A. These included making a formal allegation of indecent assault in which case we would fully investigate the matter.

"We advised it would involve contacting witnesses including her ex-husband and work friends from nearly 40 years ago.

"We discussed the fact that questioning Jimmy was not simply a case of allegation made and arrest but that the case would need fully investigating and the allegation corroborated or supported before Jimmy would ever be approached."

In Ms A's statement, she says she decided to "let sleeping dogs lie, I don't want to be dragging it all up again and end up in court, I have decided I just want to get on with my life in a normal way without any more hassle."

Alison Levit QC, who wrote the police and NSPCC report, said: "I found it difficult not to conclude that the officers had, even if unintentionally, dissuaded her from pursuing her allegation.

"When I met Ms A and her partner, both wanted to emphasise how much they had liked DS O and DC T, whom they felt had Ms A's best interests at heart.

"Ms A told me that she felt that DC T believed her and had said to her that he would leave 'no stone unturned' if that was what she wanted.

"However, he had left her in no doubt as to how difficult it would be for a prosecution to take place because Jimmy Savile was a 'big celebrity'; she said to me that the police had told her that no one would believe her.

"She remembered DC T telling her that because he had plenty of money, Jimmy Savile would have the best lawyers, it would all take place in a "big court in London" and his lawyers would make 'mincemeat' of her.

"She also got the clear impression from the police that she would be publicly branded a liar and that her name would be all over the newspapers, particularly if she 'lost the case'."

Close

What's Hot