- A prominent Australian entertainer was yesterday interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the UK.
The man, in his 80s, spent the afternoon speaking with officers from Operation Yewtree.
Yewtree was established in the wake of revelations British entertainer Savile sexually abused and assaulted more than 400 people, mostly children, over five decades, in hospitals, schools and BBC’s London studios.
There are two strands to Yewtree: One directly related to Savile’s acts and the other simply called “others” related to sexual offences that had come to light during the overall investigation but not directly related to Savile. The latest man fell into the latter.
A former detective and child protection expert, Mark Williams-Thomas, who helped spark the Yewtree investigation after his shocking documentary that exposed Savile was shown on ITV in Britain, tweeted that the man was a prominent Australian children’s entertainer.
However, police will not confirm his name.
In Sydney, his brother said that he was not aware of events in London.
Another director of the entertainer’s company said at his city centre office he knew nothing about the matter.
The 84-year-old Savile died last year before the revelations emerged but police admitted there had in the past been a number of allegations made that were not fully acted upon.
The probe, which began two months ago, has so far led to the arrest of four men, including former pop star Gary Glitter and well known British TV and radio personality and comedian Freddie Starr. Both have denied wrongdoing.
News of the latest developments came in a statement from Scotland Yard, released soon after the man left Lewisham police station in London’s south at 5pm where he had attended by appointment and was interviewed under caution – meaning he was read his rights before he spoke with police.
Ne has not been arrested nor charged.
Police said they searched his home in Berkshire in south-east England last Saturday when they arranged for him to be formally spoken to.
A spokesman said he was asked to attend a nominated police station at a specific time, noon, and did so, and left around 5pm.
The entertainer could not be contacted last night nor could his London agent.
A large throng of British media were outside his house yesterday afternoon but it is understood that the man did not return there after meeting with police.
No mainstream media named him in news reports on the day the press was being hauled over the coals with the Leveson Inquiry report release into press irresponsibility and privacy breaches.
His name was published on Twitter and Facebook sites, with many expressing shock and disappointment at the claims.
In a major embarrassment, it has been alleged that several UK public bodies covered up Savile’s crimes, with numerous incidents alleged to have taken place on BBC premises.
The gravestone of Savile is now to be sent to a landfill after being removed from a Scarborough cemetery, while charities in his name have closed.
Glitter was arrested on October 28th at his home in Marylebone, north London.
It came after allegations he raped a girl aged 13 in the 1970s in his dressing room at the BBC’s television centre.
Savile was allegedly groping a 14-year-old girl in the same room at the same time.
The allegations were made by a woman named Karin Ward, 52, who waived her anonymity, on an ITV documentary.
Glitter was convicted in Vietnam in March 2006 of obscene acts with two girls aged 11 and 12, and returned to London in August 2008 after his release from prison.
Starr was arrested four days after Glitter and questioned about claims that he groped Ms Ward in a BBC dressing room during the filming of a Savile BBC show.
A statement issued by Starr’s lawyers said: “Freddie is now 69 and cannot be expected to recollect every show that he has appeared on and to remember every person that he has met. When the allegation made by Karin Ward was put to him, Freddie’s first reaction was that he would never grope a woman and never has.” - Charles Miranda, Janet Fife-Yeomans & Yoni Bashan
