Agencies/London


Savile: scandal grows
A former high court judge and ex-Sky executive will lead the BBC’s independent inquiry into claims of sexual abuse against the late Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s biggest TV stars in the 1970s and 1980s. The national broadcaster last week announced separate inquiries into the unfolding scandal.
Ex-judge Janet Smith will lead the probe into the “culture and practices of the BBC” during the years Savile worked there. Former Sky News man Nick Pollard will examine whether the BBC’s Newsnight was right to drop an investigation into the flamboyant presenter due to be aired after his death.
George Entwistle, the BBC’s new director general, has said the British Broadcasting Corporation would examine all “outstanding questions” once police inquiries into a growing number of allegations were completed.
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband on Monday called for the government to launch an independent inquiry into the claims.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller earlier said she was “confident” BBC chiefs would get to the bottom of the scandal, but the opposition leader later argued that this did not go far enough.
An ITV television documentary shown two weeks ago contained accounts from women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Savile when they were children, in some cases on BBC premises. The claims span four decades—the first dating back to 1959 - and information already gathered suggested the alleged abuse was on a “national scale,” police said.
Meanwhile, a woman who worked for the Savile for more than 30 years has said she is “lost for words” at the accusations against him. Janet Cope, 70, said initially she could not believe what was being said about the former TV presenter - but now believes even she may have been duped.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Cope admitted her former employer believed he was “untouchable” and was hugely controlling. “Never risk being caught out,” he explained. “Always ensure that you’re in total control of any situation.”
Cope, who was Savile’s PA for 32 years until she was sacked by him in 2001, described him as “eccentric and manipulative”. “He was always photographed with what he called dolly birds because he was terrified of growing old or being seen as old,” the former PA went on. “Image was vital to him. He was like Peter Pan, forever surrounding himself with youngsters. It was his elixir. On the face of it Jim led a celibate, nomadic and simple life which may have disguised a more sordid double life. I don’t know, but he was clever enough to believe he’d get away with it and, if he did, he fooled me and many others.”