The Most Influential Liar : Part 3

 After Andrew Neil, there's a bit about Savile's childhood via Alison Bellamy. From her 'research' material, she produces his bible, which this segues nicely into Mark Lawson, recollections of seeing Savile in a church and the importance of the Catholic church in his story. 

Next : Jones 

"I'd suspected that things had gone on. That there'd been sexual assaults. By Savile. BUT, we needed evidence. Most of the evidence is going to be eyewitness accounts. Of the victims, who are young and often vulnerable. 'Can we find any victims ?'".

Screen : He's dialling up the internet on Windows 94.

"Maybe once a year if I had some spare time, I'd search for Duncroft. It's one of those things on my list of 'back stories' that I returned (?) and see if I could find anything, and you cannot. There was no references.

Screen : "In 1994 ANOTHER JOURNALIST IS PUT IN CONTACT WITH TWO FORMER PUPILS FROM DUNCROFT".

Paul Connew introduces himself to his global audience : "In 1994 I was the editor of the Sunday Mirror, er, a national newspaper in the UK". 

I'm not covering his bit in detail, his story is fairly well documented, but he is asked an interesting question :

"Was it not something you might have told the Police about ?".

"I did, in fact, tell a fairly senior police officer contact. He basically said : 'look, unless we've got clear evidence - almost film and footage of these things, juries are probably not gonna believe them.

Connew's evidence is thus : hearsay. 

Next Mike Hames, former Head of the National Paedophile Unit.

On Screen : "IN 1995 Britain FORMS IT'S FIRST POLICE UNIT DEDICATED TO THE CRIME OF CHILD SEX ABUSE".

Hames' main contribution is to explain how devious paedophiles are, and the fact that in 1998, four years after he'd left the force, his former colleagues allegedly received an anonymous letter about Savile, which was passed to Leeds Police, and never heard of again. (FILE UNDER HEARSAY).

Alison Bellamy again : "We sort of became friends". She attended the infamous : 'Friday Morning Club' at Savile's flat wherein the subject of letters from 'nutters' might crop up.

SCREEN : "A JUNIOR POLICE OFFICER PASSES THE ANONYMOUS LETTER TO A SENIOR INSPECTOR WHO TELLS HIM THE MATTER IS 'IN HAND'. IT IS NOT FILED OR INVESTIGATED".

Bear in mind, the quoted letter is the one Hames references. I'm sure that's been covered elsewhere, so I'll leave it at that.

More archive footage of Savile with a voice-over from Bellamy. Theroux' question in the car, Jim'll FIX It, Big Brother, Lawson, Lawson and backwards and forwards to Bellamy because now we're in a new century, and Jimmy Savile is still in demand : "He loved the attention. He thrived on it".

She tells us that her editor had asked her to get Savile to talk about the 'rumours'. We hear a voice-over of Savile being asked about the 'nasty rumours', on something called : Newstalk. 

Bellamy : "Because it was his 80th Birthday I wrote a series of features about him. She did and his response was 'Oh that's a load of baloney, it comes with the territory. When I was a DJ  they would be queuing up outside the dressing room door, these groupies. Why have I not been charged ? There's never been any trial or anything'. He was quite adamant. He was quite keen to show his conscience was clear.

I didn't want it to be true. It did make me think, and it was at the back of my mind. You know, because I was a journalist. If it was a story, I would have tried to chase it or get the story. You know, I was younger and I was  ambitious and keen, you know. I couldn't find ANY evidence of it and I mean I could not, heard of any victims and certainly not in Leeds, anyway. The area I covered.

Savile switches off Top Of The Pops Studio lights for the last time. And then :

An alleged victim gives her account. followed by :

Screen : "IN MAY 2007 SURREY POLICE ARE CONTACTED BY A WOMAN WHO WITNESSED AN INCIDENT AT DUNCROFT 30 YEARS EARLIER. AN INVESTIGATION IS LAUNCHED".

Bellamy : "He always used to say, 'it might all end tomorrow', So, why would it end tomorrow ?. I remember saying to him - 'Why will it end tomorrow ?' and he said, 'No, I love it. It might all end tomorrow". Obviously, these words are supposed to mean something sinister, because the next screen :

"THE POLICE FIND 3 MORE WOMEN WITH ALLEGATIONS WHICH CORROBORATED THE FIRST. JIMMY SAVILE IS REQUESTED FOR AN INTERVIEW UNDER CAUTION".

Next, the screen fills with the image of a tape cassette and the words : "1st OCTOBER 2009" 

In smaller print underneath : This audio is based on the original transcripts 

Bellamy recalls how these events affected Savile at the time.

"There was something amuck (amok). He was very upset and the police had been in touch with him from down South. He went to be questioned, I think it was down at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, erm, and he was most unhappy about this".

*"I remember him saying, he was having to get in touch with his lawyer and I asked him what it was about, but he didn't go into detail, about-the-claims. And he said it was a historic claim, from years ago, about something".

Bellamy's testimony is interspersed with the audio recording 'based on the original transcripts'. 'Based on' ? What exactly did this mean ? I decided to check what I was hearing with the official transcripts of the recording that was released to the public. 

Here's what I found :

There are just TWO voices on this 'recording' 'based om the original transcripts. The audience is not told, that there were actually FOUR people in the room where the 'out of custody interview' took place, in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Savile waived his right to have a lawyer present. Instead, a friend from the hospital, sat in.

Here's how the film presents the event. You can read them yourself here. 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/interactive/2013/oct/16/jimmy-savile-police-interview-transcript

 "Ok, this interview is being tape recorded. I'm Detective Constable (Bleep) from Surrey Police. What's ya full name ?" . 

"James Wilson Savile".

"You said earlier, it was ok to call you Jimmy ?".

"That's my name, yes !".

"So, just before I make you aware of what's been alleged, I'll just read out the caution. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you do not mention when questioned something, which you later rely on in court. And anything you do say, may be given in evidence".

"I'll say everything. I've had so much of this in fifty years you know, it's always is, there's someone looking for a few quid or a story from the papers.

"What we'll do Jimmy, I'm not being rude stopping you there. I will give you a chance to say, it's just important to get this instruction bit done". (By instruction, she means the caution that she's already done !).

"You didn't interrupt me". 

Bellamy (see* above).

Back to the 'recording' :

"Did you specifically go to Duncroft, knowing it was an all-girls place, to receive sexual gratification ?".

"That is a complete flight of fantasy"..

She coughs : "She said that when you visited D she showed you across to a place called Norman Lodge".

"Nah, I can't remember that".

Did you ever give her, what she calls 'a blow job ?".

"Out of the question".

"So did you ask for a massage from the girls when you visited Duncroft ?".

"Not at all - NEVER".

"Did you ask them to comb your hair, at all ?".

"No".

"Why would these girls say this about you ?".

"We always get something like this coming round at Xmas - cos we all want a few quid at Xmas, right ? Normally you can just brush them away like midges. They will try blackmail - 'If you don't send us money, I will say that - you've done this and you've done that. They just like causing trouble. Now, that's why I have, up in Yorkshire where I live in Leeds, a collection of senior police persons - who come to me socially, but I give them all my weirdo letters, and they take them back to the station".

"You stated - at the very beginning of this interview, your 'policy' on this sort of thing ?".

"Policy ? Yes ! I have now alerted my legal team, that we may, be doing business. See, I'm known in the trade as 'litigious' - pull people into court, no messing - 'Oh dear, I've been wronged - ah, ah, ah. Dreadful (noise of gavel being banged on table) £200 grand. Five times I've done that - I'd rather not.

If this disappears - it disappears. If it doesn't, then YOU YOUNG LADY, will finish up at the Old Bailey, as well as everyone else".

"If I just end the interview there. It's 11.40 and I shall stop the tape".

That's it. That's how these film makers handled such a serious aspect of the whole story - they trivialised it. They've used an actor who produces a very good replication of Savile's voice - as if he's been rehearsing for some time, possibly on a television drama ? Who knows and who cares ? I don't. I care about what was actually said by real people, not fakes - playing a part, for cash.

Here's the official transcript.

Dishonest isn't it ? These people couldn't even be bothered to write a proper 'script' for their performer's. The real police should attend to this, but they won't - it's only Jimmy Savile.

I'm almost at the end of my coverage of this truly appalling film. Straight after the audio ends :

Screen : "THE THREE WOMEN MAKING ALLEGATIONS ARE RELUCTANT TO GO TO TRIAL. THEY EACH BELIEVE THEY WILL BE THE ONLY COMPLAINANT. THE POLICE DO NOT INFORM THEM THAT THEY ARE NOT ALONE".

Another bit from Bellamy, who asks Savile, what happened "with that inquiry thing ?. 

"He just brushed it aside, as if famous people had this to put up with, all the time. And it was just part of his fame and - not to worry about it".

Savile voice-over saying he's a very tricky fella. Not clever, tricky.

Screen : " FOUR WEEKS LATER PROSECUTORS DROP THE INVESTIGATION ON THE BASIS THAT THERE IS NO REASONABLE PROSPECT OF INVESTIGATION".

Next up : How Jones found his 'victims'. 

Remember - he's already said how - maybe once a year, if he had any spare time, he'd look for stuff online about Duncroft ?

"2009/10 I started seeing stuff popping up on Friends Reunited - an early social media network. There were hints that something had gone on at Duncroft from girls ... now mature women. Nothing you could quite put your finger on, but there's something about there conversations - HINTS, that there's been a police investigation.

Jones produces a large file of what appear to be, print outs of web pages. We get to see a few of them.

On 19th September 2008 someone calling herself 'Caro' is responding to something someone has said about a 'gentleman'. You will note that Fiona only comes into the conversation in 2011. Where was she in 2008 ? Where was Meirion Jones for that matter ? Was he not scouring the internet for Duncroft gossip in 2008 ? Slap bang in the middle of the Police operation ? Apparently NOT ! Moreover, that 2008 poster is NOT included in the few pages of screenshots in the Pollard Report. I checked ! 

To be continued