Lawyers win as all Jimmy Savile claimants are treated as victims
HOW can you prove that Jimmy Savile sexually abused you? Savile’s alleged victims are vying for a shared of his £4.3 million estate plus compensation form the NHS, schools, the BBC and what institutions failed to stop Savile and provided a venue for his deviancy.
Pannone is one law firm handling complaint against Savile. The company has issued press releases, such as:
October 22, 2012:
A leading abuse case lawyer whose firm is representing victims of disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile, says Publicist Max Clifford must tell the police what he knows about other ‘stars’ of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and any possible misconduct on their behalf.
Clifford was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree on December 6, 2012. He denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged.
15 October 2012: Law firm receives more claims of abuse by Savile
Said Alan Collins, a Partner and specialist in abuse work at Pannone’s London office, “We were already dealing with one case of alleged abuse by Savile in Jersey and as a result of media attention, we have now had at least a dozen calls from individuals who claim to have suffered abuse at the hands of the former celebrity.
16 October 2012: Pannone’s Alan Collins Backs Ed Milliband’s Call for a Jimmy Savile Independent Inquiry
Alan Collins has already confirmed that he is representing two of Savile’s victims
October 29, 2012: Victims to claim against Savile’s estate
Alan Collins, a Partner and specialist in abuse work at law firm Pannone said: “…This is becoming an extensive inquiry spanning continents. Here at Pannone we are dealing with allegations of abuse by Savile from all over the UK, elsewhere in Europe and Australia.”
Adding:
To discuss allegations of child abuse by Jimmy Savile please get in touch with a child abuse solicitor today on 0800 0384 384 or email Alan
Today Alan Collins is quoted in the Times:
“We have had over a thousand inquiries but you can’t take a sexual abuse case because of a hand on a knee or a kiss, even if it was non-consensual. It is an assault but you can’t found a case on that. We have to sort the wheat from the chaff.”
So. Business is booming for the lawyers.
Mr Collins said that, in theory, a claim could also be mounted against the police and/or the Crown Prosecution Service for failing to prosecute earlier cases where there was sufficient evidence. In practice, though, it might be difficult. “We would have first to show negligence and then go on to show harm suffered, in that people were abused as a result of a prosecution not having been brought in the first place,” he said.
Rob Ainscough, another lawyer on the Pannone team, said that institutions could be liable whether or not Savile was directly employed by them, as he allegedly committed the offences “when under their auspices”.
So. How can every allegation be proven? According to the police, you don’t need to. Cdr Peter Spindler, who is leading the investigation, said Savile had “groomed the nation“.
In Giving Victims a Voice – Joint report into sexual allegations made against Jimmy Savile, paragraph 1.4 of the Intro tells us:
The MPS investigation – given the operational name ‘Yewtree’ – brought together officers with paedophile and serious crime investigation experience and has collated all the allegations against Savile, irrespective of where the offences took place.
Allegations or offences? Aren’t the offences alleged offences? And, oddly, giving the victims a voice features not one named victim.
Charles Moore writes:
I wonder how the inquiry would have treated a liar. I have never been abused by Jimmy Savile (though I did meet him once, in the BBC). Suppose I had pretended that I had been his victim when I was a teenager in the early Seventies, surrounding my lie with accurate, checkable facts about when Savile was where. Would I have been believed? If so, would that have classified me as yet another victim to be “given a voice” by the inquiry?
Of course, it is highly unlikely that most, or even many, people who came forward were making everything up, and it would be very distressing for real victims to be accused of this. But it is certainly not at all unknown for some people to say things which are not true, especially where celebrity and the prospect of money come into play. If the police and the NSPCC absolutely deny this possibility, then they really are unfit to investigate iniquity of any kind.
So. How can we prove Savile was guilty?
Savile in photos – the creepy ones.
Posted: 12th, January 2013 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
