Managing ! - Inside Broadmoor with Jimmy Pt 5

I'm starting to understand WHAT Jimmy Savile was doing at BM Hospital.  MWT does not have this understanding, a fact he made all too clear half way through Exposure Pt 2.  After describing, the high walls, razor wire of the high security establishment he comes out with this !

"It seems no place for a television entertainer, but Savile was given an official role by the hospital in the early 1970's " The program then cuts to a clip of the 1972 documentary 'The Life of Jimmy Savile' wherein Jimmy's voice says the following 

"The hospital asked me officially whether I would join the staff and I am now honarary assistant entertainments officer " (25.23 mins) 

STRANGE, my investigations led me to evidence that, whilst Jimmy was indeed officially recognised, this did not take place until 1974, a decision said to have been 'rubber stamped' by the then  Dr David Owen !

Perhaps Thomas should have spoken to Dr Owen about his recollection of the matter, the telegraph article from October 2012 goes on 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/9653901/Jimmy-Savile-gave-job-to-chief-porter-who-had-keys-to-the-wards.html



No, Thomas does not pursue any member of the Labour Party who were in government at the time of Jimmy's official appointment, preferring to chat with an ex Junior Minister from the government at the time that the Task force was set up more than 14 years later.  I've already covered Ms Currie, there was one thing she said that stuck in my mind though.  

In her spot on Irish Televison, Currie described Jimmy as 'creepy', someone who would try to ingraciate himself with the right people - check out 6.12 mins

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZ_On7Z6CQ

Getting to my point, Currie described a meeting at the rather exclusive Athenaeum club in London Jimmy having taken her there to discus the Task force.  She sneers at the memory of how he was not aware of the fact that women could not eat in the main dining room because they could NOT be full members.

The relevance of the ex Junior Health Minister's memory of this event becomes clear as Thomas turns his attention to the man appointed as General manager and later Chief Executive at BM, Alan Franey,

In his build up to his interview with Mr Franey, Thomas describes the Athenaeum as a regular haunt of Jimmy Savile.  Certainly, Jimmy did patronise the place, and had meetings with both Currie and Franey there, but how regular a 'haunt' could this gaff had been to someone who did not even know a basic house rule !

Ms Currie mentioned that Cardinal Hume put Jimmy up for membership of the very exclusive establishment. The doyens were quick to distance themselves and their hangout from Jimmy post Exposure !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/9596850/Sir-Jimmy-Savile-causes-anguish-at-the-Athenaeum.html

The 'old boys' did not appear to welcome Jimmy into their little world - funny that !

Another talking head to supply information about Broadmoor is Ray Rowden, former Senior NHS executive in the mid 1990's, who in reference to Jimmy having keys says that he is "gobsmacked" that "a non- member of staff could have access to a set of keys".  Thomas goes on to say that he (Rowden) "challenged the then Chief Exec of BM, Alan Franey about Savile's access in 1996"

"Franey (says Thomas) does not recall the conversation and said, it was not Rowden's place to raise it anyway" I'd be inclined to agree with Mr Franey.  Couldn't the producer's get someone who was actually there at the time to give an opinion.

Let's just back track here a minute shall we ? You may recall that the same Ray Rowden appeared in Part 2 of my blog posts about BM. Remember, he was the one who failed to raise any issues about Jimmy despite having ample opportunity in 2003

http://rabbitaway.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/inside-broadmoor-with-jimmy-pt-2.html

Franey gets a chance to put his side of the story as to how he came to be appointed General Manager of BM Hospital in 1989, no, not 1988, that is when the Task force was sent into the hospital.  This newspaper cutting from the Daily Express 29thAugust 1988 provides some background information !

Firstly Mr Franey makes it very clear that he "had no complaints about Savile .... from staff or patients about any inappropriate behaviour " Thomas interupts him suggesting that S could go "anywhere he wanted" but Franey responds assertively "He couldn't go anywhere he wanted.  He couldn't go into patients bedrooms !"

Thomas challenges him again quite aggressively about keys !

Franey stands his ground - "He had had that access for some time.  I didn't see any reason to challenge what he was doing, no reason at all "

Asked what Jimmy's 'role' actually was, aside from "carrying on as assistant entertainments officer " Franey admits that 'no one was very clear what this role actually meant, although he (Savile) did bring celebrities into the staff social club which was OUTSIDE the secure perimeter !

He then grills him about Jimmy's 'role' in his appointment, did he feel "almost indebted to Savile ?" In other words, Jimmy got him the job !

"No, I don't accept that he did, I think I got the job through my own merit " He does however admit that he would not have been interviewed had his name not been put forward initially by Savile.  

Franey defends himself against any suggestion that he would not have stood up to Jimmy "Did you really think you could stand up to him ?"

"Absolutely, there's no doubt in my mind, no doubt at all "

That was the end of that.  Thomas then states that Franey was 'shocked by the recent news about Savile'.  He then goes on to advise the audience that -

"We understand there were NO allegations of abuse while Franey was in charge !"

Here's how one local paper described Mr Franey the day after the program's transmission !  I had problems providing a link so here is the whole piece from the Welwyn Hatfield Times Nov 22nd 2012.

Fancy being told off by a 'former PC' !

Next time - Just why did Broadmoor need 'fixing' in 1988 and why was Jimmy Savile seen as the best man for the job !

 

Anonymous "Nutters" - Inside Broadmoor with Jimmy Pt 4

Moor or less, as soon as I finished my last chapter, I found the answer to the question that had been bugging me foe ages.  And the answer had been staring me in the face all the time.  You see, I have a copy of a record made of a concert performed at BM in 1975 - you know the one !

Well, here is the reverse of the LP 

And here is a close up of that, bottom right hand corner where Jimmy himself tells me, the answer to my question !

Apologies for the poor quality, I must get a better camera or learn to use the one I've got properly.  That sentence that's affected reads; 'A major undertaking was a recording of BBC TV's Song of Praise, also Radio One's Speakeasy, an undited hour long free speech program with 250 patients from all wards' 

So, it was 1969 that Jimmy first became acquainted with BM.  I wonder if 'Britt' is still around, go on have a wry smile about that name guys and gals, I'm fairly certain that Leon, was not in post as 'entertainments officer' in Broadmoor Hospital in the 1960's !

Let's get back to 1972 shall we, that is where I left off last time.  Having now watched the rest of Exposure - the update (SEE HOW DIDICATED I AM !) I can see just how useful the BBC film of that year was to them - AND ME as it happens !

Here we go ! 

One thing that concerned me as I watched Exposure Pt 2 was the use that was made of Jimmy's own words.  Now ordinarally I would see this a good thing, were it not for the fact that I believe that it's inclusion only misleads the audience. Let me explain !  Below, is a still from Jimmy speaking about the staff at BM.  Thomas does not say WHERE this clip comes from, but it is obviously not 1972 !

My guess, is that this is a clip from 'Inside Broadmoor' made by the BBC in 1989.  Here's what Jimmy says, just after Thomas describes his role as something sinister in terms of being in a postion of authority at the hospital !

" If anybody was so basically unhappy here that they didn't like it then they should hand their notice in and leave " 

 We are not allowed to know the context of this statement, why he was discussing staff morale, but I guess the producer's felt that it somehow shows Jimmy as some kind of tyrant ! However, as will be seen, Jimmy had been appointed as part of a task force, as a result of huge problems regarding staff and management in 1988. He is obviously being questioned about the issue, wouldn't you agree ?

You will note that this clip comes in at 24.24 mins into the program.  Just 9 seconds later, we hear more from Jimmy and how he started at BM.  Thomas describes this speech as being from the 1972 film, I guess we will have to take his word for that.  He also describes Jimmy being inspired to go there  by a letter from a patient !

"Some years ago in my copious fan mail, I got a notice telling me that I was an honary member of 'nutter's anonymous', run by some of the patients at the world famous BM hospital "

It is strange is it not that someone would receive a letter which described an 'honary' role, as if you were ALREADY in that role, BEFORE you even got there !

Letters eh, they play a large part in the scandal that is 'the death of the life of Jimmy Savile' ! Real letters, fake one's and then there are REAL letters that are distorted before our very eyes - Read on folks !

Thomas goes in search of people closely involved with Jimmy at BM, first stop, Janet Cope, Jimmy's PA for 29 years. His questions her about a letter "seemingly, from a patient thanking Savile for taking her on a supervised day trip " Thomas' problem here is that the letter is NOT TO JIMMY at all, it is a letter to Janet, who was ALSO in attendance along with a friend, the trip, was to Bournemouth !

Why ITV felt the need to make this letter almost illegible I have no idea, but it is plain, it is TO JANET, thanking both her and Jimmy for a lovely day out, you will also note that she went 'home' (BM) alone !

Better still, it appears to have been a group event !  Again, the document is presented very badly but I've done the best I can to present it as clearly as possible !

Bless her, I like the mention of how the folks had 'never seen the sea or sand'.  Why does this line fill me up ?

Mrs Cope describes  "trouble at BM" that led to the appointment of a task force. She says that, "they put him in charge of the task force".  Senior mangers, Thomas says insist that Jimmy was NOT in charge of the task force. But, Jimmy was a powerful man, he had friends in high places according to Thomas as he cuts to a clip of Margaret Thatcher's appearance on Jim'll Fix it ! 

Thomas meets Edwina, we'll make this short and sweet shall we ? Ms Currie like Jimmy has been promoted for the purposes of this program, to the post of Health Minister 1986 - 1988 !  She is none the wiser for her elevation she still knows very little about anything useful !

"I feel fairly sure that Jimmy Savile suggested himself "

" He would have been seen as an extreemly useful person.  And to have a high profile person doing this would have been have been so much the better " Eh ? Why is Ms Currie speaking as though she was not involved in any of this at all ? 

"He was simply seen as a friend of the establishment" 

Once, in post, Currie meets with Jimmy who she says advises her about the staff finance issues.  He also , she says tells her tales of an IRA cell operating within BM, an officer having an affair and alleged embezzlement of funds ! Were any of these serious matters investigated ? well, it would appear not !

One good thing that came out of the program was this, a still of him getting out of his car and outside of a house outside the 'perimeter wall' of BM.  This is where Jimmy stayed when he was in BM 

 Again, I assume that this clip is from the 1989 film, Jimmy's hair is now white !

Let's talk to someone who really knows something about JS at BM shall we ? MWT gives Alan Franey a real going over, but Mr Franey can handle himself.  You might want to scroll along to 37.22 to see what I mean !

To be continued !

 

















 

"I think he appointed himself" ! Inside Broadmoor with Jimmy Part 3

The title of my latest came straight out of one of the horse's, mouths.  You would think that the woman who held the post of Junior Health Minister (1986 - 1988) would remember, how, when and, most importantly WHY, Jimmy Savile was part of a 'task force' sent into Broadmoor in August 1988.  

Ms C delivered these words in an interview on RTE presumably late October 2012 as it was uploaded to youtube on the 3rd November 2012 !

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZ_On7Z6CQ

Yes, guys and gals, I sat through this garbage to bring you some of the statements that she came out with - here are some of them !

"I didn't give him the keys" - she's actually putting her hands up as she says this !

"What it appears I was involved in, can't be sure til they all the paperwork" 

Then she 'appears' to remember, well, quite alot actually !

"What we were in the process of doing was improving the life of patients, because it was being run like a prison.  WE asked various people, chaired by a senior civil servant, how the lives of the patients could be improved, and Jimmy made an appointment to see me" 

Earlier, Currie described Jimmy as having been "in and out" of BM for years, since Wilson was PM "long before my time" !

She was quite impressed with the ideas that Jimmy had at the time "what he came up with was quite good".

Ms Currie did not share any of these idea's, she's far moor interested in a potential motive behind Jimmy's enthusiasm to be part of the force at BM !

"He'd gone through the payroll" finding that some officers were paying themselves moor than they should have been.

Q "How did he get access to the payroll ? " 
A "Good Question" so good she did not have an answer but she did have a theory as to why Jimmy would have been busying himself with the accounts !

He was, she says, finding stuff he could use as a way of "suborning the staff" !

Q "You put him in charge of a task force"
A "He, was NOT in charge, the civil Servant was IN CHARGE "

Had this been a serious investigative style interview and not some 'Loose women' type entertainment program, my next question would have been !

"So WHO was that 'senior civil Servant ?" 

The only other interesting piece of information that she comes out with is the fact that she NEVER heard ANY "rumours" about Jimmy, after all she was, she admits, "in a position to stop him".  She is obviously only referring to the start of the engagement of the force's deployment, because she was forced to resign a few months later , something to do with eggs and salmonella !

That is more than enough of Edwina, time to look at the reasons WHY the government felt that it was necessary to REMOVE the whole management of Broadmoor Hospital and replace it with a task force in the first place ! 

First things first, when did Jimmy first become involved with BM ? WE know he was there in 1972, there's lots of evidence of that in both the mainstream press and other less well known publications such as the Catholic Herald ! 

 
The BBC know that he was there before March 1972, because they were trying to pay him for the 'Songs of Praise' that he took part in there !

Maybe this episode actually took place in 1971 

 

But, when did he actually START volunteering at BM.  Currie mentioned Harold Wilson whose premiership witnessed the 'I'm backing Britain Campaign' in 1968.  Jimmy started working at the LGI, as a way of doing his bit so he probably started at BM at around the same time !  Moor covered aspects of this in his blog 'Patriot' !

http://jimcannotfixthis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/patriot.html

BUT - here is where it gets interesting folks because, what I want to know is when this still from a film was actually taken ?

I took this from a Sun newspaper article that is pay walled - I left in the description at the bottom because, despite it's offensiveness, it actually helps us to pinpoint roughly when it was taken.  

Jimmy, starred in a documentary film about BM entitled 'Inside Broadmoor' in 1989 ! Now, I may be wrong, but there is NO WAY that the above came from that film, why, because Jimmy is far too young.  

I believe that this is actually a still from a documentary about and indeed called 'The World of Jimmy Savile' which was made some time after June 1972 - How do I know that ?

You know the film I'm talking about, I believe it's the one from which those clips of him on the exercise bicycle talking about his work in hospitals. 

AS IT HAPPENS, guys and gals I tracked my film down, MWT featured it in his Exposure Update tsk tsk Marky, because, from out of the horses mouth came this !

"Five minutes in a hospital is a gimmick, if you've got the newspapers there, and the televison there, five minutes is a gimmick.  Five years, is not a gimmick !" 

 
 Jimmy is still in his 'volunteering' days in that still the Sun has provided.  I assume that someone at the BBC loaned ITV a copy of the film this clip was taken from.  

There's more to come - I'm only up to 1972, the year Jimmy got his OBE ! 

 Well done Jim - I'm sure your family were and are, very proud of you ! 

 

Inside Broadmoor with Jimmy Pt 2

Broadmoor what do we know about Jimmy Savile's role there ? How strange that most of us only became aware that Jimmy had an association with this institution after his death, when claims of sexual abuse were made against him in September 2012 !

But, my friends, this was NOT the first time that the Hospital was to be the focus of such claims.  Jimmy Savile was still very much alive in early 2003 when stories of abuse of women patients, not by staff but by other patients emerged in the press two years after a staff member first reported her concerns.

 Two days later, the Guardian also ran the story.

Ms Wassell had been collecting her data on abuse of female patients for THREE YEARS !

 http://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/mar/08/mentalhealth.prisons

 The Guardian calls it's article 'Broadmoor Cover-up - another whistle blower suffers'.  How many 'whistle blowers' have there been ? and, how many, if any, raised concerns about Jimmy Savile ?  Let's not underestimate the seriousness of this inquiry, which resulted in talk of the removal of women patients altogether from the hospital !

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BROADMOOR+SEX+SCANDAL.-a098460488

All that data collecting over THREE YEARS surely the whistle blower would have heard SOMETHING about the most famous member of staff ? Well, it looks as though she did not !

This week Cllr Wassell said she has been contacted by several newspapers and TV stations to give advice about the historic culture at Broadmoor.
And the Liberal Democrat told the Bucks Free Press: "It didn’t surprise me when I heard that Jimmy Savile had been accused of abuse at Broadmoor in the 1980s...
"When I was at Broadmoor there was a macho, old-fashioned culture in a closed institution. Clearly if male offenders had managed to get access to women patients then it wouldn’t be difficult for a celebrity with keys to do so.
"I believe the accounts of women who are now speaking out about Broadmoor. I find it ironic that when I properly reported my concerns I had my keys to Broadmoor removed, but that Jimmy Savile was given keys." 

 http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/healthnews/10007523.print/


This was not the first time that Cllr Wassell's opinion about women in Broadmoor was sought post 2003.  Indeed, the press were still reporting the imminent relocation of Broadmoor's women in September 2005.

 The final sentence in the following extract from the same piece struck a chord with me !

The same "names" "over and over again".  You would think that had Jimmy been involved in any abuse here, this woman would have heard something ?

One 'Senior NHS Executive' to voice an opinion about Jimmy's role at the hospital was Ray Rowden.  Here's what he had to say in October 2012 !

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/9623089/Jimmy-Savile-Questions-for-Edwina-Currie-and-the-BBC.html

I'm seeing a pattern emerging here - Mr Rowden like Ms Wassell also had an opportunity to raise any concerns he may have had about Jimmy in 2003.  He did not !

http://www.psychminded.co.uk/news/news2003/march03

I find it hard to believe that the Press, the Prison Officers association, one of the largest Public Service Unions (Unison) and all the other bodies involved in the 2003 scandal would failed to uncover the fact that Jimmy Savile was abusing patients in Broadmoor Hospital.  

So what was Jimmy doing in Broadmoor and how did he come to be there in the first place ? Join me next time and I'll tell you Moor !

BTW, the header photo comes from -

 http://dunka.deviantart.com/art/Broadmoor-Lunatic-Asylum-83034847

Inside Broadmoor with Jimmy !

I see that Slater and Gordon are soliciting for more claimants to come forward ! This time, Ms Dux has Broadmoor Hospital in her sights !

Ms Dux, you may recall appeared on a Panorama program last year called 'After Savile - No more secrets' which included a story of a 12 year old girl being raped in a public area of Stoke Mandeville Hospital.  I've blogged about this before, so I won't repeat myself, but you might want to read these blogs posts !

 http://rabbitaway.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/after-savile-no-more-tears-enough-is.html

 http://rabbitaway.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-jubilee-lie.html

 Ms Dux intimated in the program (produced by Meirion Jones, nephew of the headmistress at Duncroft School from whence the claims about JS first came ) that there was so much more for the public to know about JS in relation to his hospital work ! So, I guess it was inevitable that she followed up her success in the High Court on Wednesday with another call for more 'victims' to come forward

I can't imagine why Ms Dux would believe that there were any more potential claimants out there after all, it's not as if everyone, including former patients of hospitals etc cannot now be unaware of the opportunity that has been provided for their voice to be heard !

Thankfully, the silent majority also have a platform should they decide to start speaking up for Sir Jimmy.  The recent Yewtree trials showed us the importance of character witnesses, so let's start shall we, let's raise our voices and see who can shout the loudest ! I'll start with a story, and that is all it is so far, a story, hearsay evidence of the good that Sir Jimmy did at Broadmoor Hospital.  Hang on to your hats guys and gals, this could be the start of something wonderful !

BTW, this particular story began with an innocuous enough tweet from Barbara Hewson last night !

After further exchanges about the institution's history along with it's current security provisions, the conversation naturally got round to JS.

 The  lady went on !

 

 This lady has more than one story to tell from her meetings with Broadmoor folk !

She goes on !

By way of background information this same lady tells me that she is a showbiz person herself and, whilst she never actually met JS, she does have first hand knowledge of security provisions at the BBC even in the 70's *

She went on !

Ok, back to Broadmoor, anyone wanting to know moor about the place should check out the video film Ms Hewson intially mentioned, in it I found a layout of the place, it's a big place isn't it !

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26335033

Obviously, that's an old map, it refers to Broadmoor as a 'Criminal Lunatic Asylum' ! It's a nice film though, the folk who built such institutions obviously had the best of intentions.  Goodness, the Law even said that the building had to have views that were 'uplifting and healthy' !  Broadmoor was described as having "a benign, moral regime and it imposed a regulated day with time for work, leisure activities and, in that manner it put an order into lives that had previously been chaotic"
 
We know that Jimmy Savile was part of a task force established to oversee changes in the regime at the hospital in 1988. Whoever, made the decision that these changes had to be made obviously had the same good intentions as their predecessors !  

Some time ago Moor Larkin mentioned in his blog about how the film 'Inside Broadmoor' made in 1989 as part of the forty Minutes series and featuring Jimmy, appears to have disappeared from public access.  Surely, this film should be available for us all to see, if not, shouldn't we be asking WHY ?

 
Looking forward to hearing Jimmy's friends voices in the not too distant future .... Guys and gals ! xx

* Addendum 2nd March 12.30 pm GMT

Ms Walters advises me that whilst she has worked in television, she has never actually worked for the BBC.