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Police admit they received Savile assault complaint

 

Tuesday 02 October 2012 16:32 BST
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Sir Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter
Sir Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter

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Police have confirmed that they received an indecent assault complaint about Jimmy Savile in 2007 as allegations of a cover-up continued to surface about the television personality yesterday.

The flamboyant entertainer and charity fundraiser's reputation is under intense scrutiny this week as a documentary to be aired on ITV on Wednesday claims he was a sexual predator who preyed on underage girls.

Yesterday, police confirmed that they had received a complaint about Savile but no action had been taken. A spokesman for Surrey police said: "In 2007, Surrey police received an historic allegation of indecent assault which is alleged to have occurred at a children's home in Staines during the 1970s.

"The allegation was investigated and an individual was interviewed under caution. The matter was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision who advised there was insufficient evidence to take any further action."

Several women who were pupils at Duncroft, an approved school for girls in Staines, Surrey, have claimed that Savile repeatedly assaulted them during regular visits to the institution in the 1970s.

An "imperial personality", Sir Jimmy used his charity fundraising work as a lever to prevent his private life being exposed, his former Radio 1 colleague, Paul Gambaccini, said yesterday. On one occasion, Savile was "about to be exposed" by one newspaper, but to prevent its publication he gave an interview to a rival tabloid which stopped the negative piece.

"You just didn't mess with Jim," Gambaccini told ITV's Daybreak.

Broadcaster Louis Theroux, who made a BBC documentary about Sir Jimmy's personal life, said: "My thoughts are with the victims. I hope they find peace."

In a 1990 interview for the Independent on Sunday, Lynn Barber challenged Savile directly about the rumours of "little girls". He shrugged off the inquiry, saying "I am of no interest to them, except in a purely platonic way".

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