Category: Non-EU Countries

Jimmy Savile ‘Was Yorkshire Ripper Suspect’

Jimmy Savile was questioned by detectives investigating the Yorkshire Ripper murder, West Yorkshire Police confirmed on Wednesday.

A senior officer who worked on the inquiry revealed the disgraced DJ was a suspect in the notorious case more than 30 years ago on Tuesday.

John Stainthorpe, a former detective with West Yorkshire Police, said the Leeds-born presenter was approached after an anonymous tip-off.

Mr Stainthorpe, who spent 40 years in the force, told ITV’s Calendar News: “When the Ripper was really active, one of the suspects put forward by the public was, in fact, Jimmy Savile.

“Obviously, it was not he, but he was interviewed along with many others.”

He said the person who reported Savile was “aiming in the right direction”.

“Child perverts soon become child killers,” he added.

The police force confirmed Savile may have been questioned, but did not reveal when he was interviewed or why.

A spokesman said: “As with thousands of other men in Leeds at the time, he may at some time have been approached by detectives on the investigation.

“What is without doubt is that Savile was clearly not the Yorkshire Ripper.”

Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women in 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is held at Broadmoor and has been told he will never be freed.

Sutcliffe has jumped to the defence of Savile, who he says befriended him during regular visits to the high security hospital.

Dismissing claims the late DJ abused around 300 victims over six decades, he said those making allegations were “jumping on the bandwagon”.

Savile, who died a year ago aged 84, is now believed to be one of the UK’s most prolific child abusers.

It comes after he was linked to fresh allegations of abuse at a care home in north Wales.

The Sun newspaper claimed boys were molested for his “entertainment” at Bryn Estyn in the 1970s.

Lawyers representing the disgraced DJ’s alleged victims have said they have notified his estate executors, the BBC and three hospitals that they plan to launch damage claims against them.

The former presenter’s £4m estate has already been frozen by executors NatWest.

Sky News

November 7, 2012
British Soldier Stabbed To Death In South Cyprus

A British soldier has been stabbed to death during a fight with UK tourists in a Cyprus nightclub, police have said.

Cypriot police said four off-duty soldiers stationed on the island got involved in an altercation with three tourists in the early hours of Sunday morning.

One of the tourists then allegedly drew a switch blade knife and stabbed the teenage soldier, according to police spokesman Georgios Economou.

He said: “Today at around 3.30am while a group of British soldiers from Dhekelia garrison were enjoying themselves at a club in Ayia Napa they had a confrontation with three of their compatriots.

“During the confrontation one of the three drew what is believed to be a knife injuring the soldier in the chest.”

He was pronounced dead on arrival at Famagusta General Hospital in nearby Paralimni.

Connie Pierce, a British military spokeswoman, said the incident took place in a part of Ayia Napa that is off limits to British soldiers because of past trouble there.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed a British soldier was killed following a fight on the island. The dead soldier has not been identified.

Britain retains two military bases on the island after the former colony gained independence in 1960, with around 9,000 troops stationed there.

Ayia Napa is a popular resort destination for young holidaymakers, especially British tourists attracted by the nightlife.

Sky News

November 4, 2012
UK: Savile took girls to Leeds General Infirmary Hospital

Jimmy Savile would regularly take teenage girls to a hospital block alone, a former porter has claimed.
Terry Pratt said the late Jim’ll Fix It star was frequently handed a key to the nurses’ accommodation building at Leeds General Infirmary during the late 1980s. Mr Pratt told the BBC that Savile would arrive at Leeds General Infirmary with the girls in the early hours of the morning and then leave before dawn.

He said: “He would go up and the lad on the desk would say ‘Here’s the key, Jim, make sure I get it back’. He’d take the key and would walk out and the two women would follow him towards the nurses’ home. He was going into a property he had no right to go into. He wasn’t a doctor and he wasn’t a nurse.”
Mr Pratt said he became suspicious when Savile began arriving in the middle of the night with different girls who seemed “star-struck” and were “not streetwise”.
But nobody questioned the late presenter’s behaviour at the time, he said, adding: “We looked at him as a sort of film star, a cult figure.”
Mr Pratt said the celebrity, who was a volunteer porter and fundraiser for the hospital, would make several late-night visits a month where he would ask for the key to the accommodation block, spend a few hours there and then leave at 5am.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it was “shocked” by the claims surrounding Leeds General Infirmary and has vowed to help the Metropolitan Police with inquiries into the alleged abuse.
A spokesman for the trust said: “We continue to be shocked by each new allegation. It is important that they are investigated properly. Once again, we urge anybody who has any concerns to contact us so that we can pass information on to the police or to contact the police directly via the NSPCC helpline, 0808 800 5000.
“The trust is in contact with senior detectives from the Metropolitan Police and we have indicated our intention to help with their inquiries. If there are any issues which need to be addressed following the police investigation, then we will take action.”
Meanwhile, councillors in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, have called for his name to be immediately removed from the honour board for freemen of the borough until the Metropolitan Police concludes investigations.

Press Association

November 1, 2012
UK Savile probe to investigate doctors

Information on three doctors who worked at hospitals where Jimmy Savile had links has been passed to police amid claims they were involved in a network of child abusers connected with the disgraced presenter.

The Guardian said the trio were alleged to have abused young people in their care and were identified by victims who came forward in the last two weeks.

Police are examining individuals who might have had access to vulnerable children, some of whom were associated with Savile, the newspaper said.

The former DJ, who died last year aged 84, had a bedroom at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, an office and living quarters at Broadmoor and widespread access to Leeds General Infirmary.

Since the allegations about Savile emerged the children’s charity the NSPCC said it has received 161 calls relating to him, which have been passed to police.

A decision not to prosecute Savile over abuse allegations in 2009 will come under the spotlight again after the Prime Minister said Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer would review legal papers from the case.

Surrey Police submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) containing references to four potential offences, including an allegation of indecent assault on a young girl at a children’s home, but it was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

David Cameron told MPs it was essential that lessons were learned from the scandal of Savile’s decades of sexual abuse.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “The Director of Public Prosecutions has confirmed that his principal legal adviser will again review the papers from the time when a case was put to the CPS for prosecution. The Director of Public Prosecutions specifically is going to consider what more can be done to alert relevant authorities where there are concerns that a prosecution is not taken forward. The Government will do everything it can do, other institutions must do what they can do, to make sure that we learn the lesson of this and it can never happen again.”

Mr Starmer said the evidence was considered by prosecutors, but because the alleged victims would not support police action, it was decided not to proceed. As the number of allegations against Savile has snowballed, Mr Starmer asked the chief Crown prosecutor for the South East, Roger Coe-Salazar, to look at the files again. He concluded the correct decision was taken, although the files will again be reviewed “out of an abundance of caution”.

Press Association

October 25, 2012
Addressing General Assembly, UN expert warns of impact of judicial corruption on human rights

24 October 2012 – Corruption in judicial systems is threatening the protection of human rights, a United Nations independent expert said today, urging governments to implement policies to strengthen the rule of law to combat this practice.

“The pervasiveness of corruption in the judiciary and the legal profession, whether one off or endemic, is very worrying because it directly undermines the rule of law and the ability of the judiciary to guarantee the protection of human rights,” the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, told the General Assembly while presenting it with her latest annual report.

“A judiciary that is not independent can easily be corrupted or co-opted by interests other than those of applying the law in a fair and impartial manner,” she said. “Strengthening the judiciary from within, as well as providing all the safeguards for its independence vis-à-vis other public officials and private actors, is essential in combating and preventing instances of judicial corruption.”

Ms. Knaul noted that corruption in the judiciary has the potential to victimize those that do not have the means to play by the informal rules set by a corrupt system.

“Corruption in the judiciary discourages people from resorting to the formal justice system, thereby diverting dispute settlements towards informal systems that more than often do not abide by the basic principles of impartiality, fairness, non-discrimination and due process,” she said.

Mechanisms of accountability, the Special Rapporteur underlined, should be put in place to investigate acts of corruption and they should be developed with the full participation of the actors concerned.

“I strongly believe that the existing international principles and standards on human rights and corruption provide adequate guidance on how to tackle judicial corruption while respecting the independence of the justice system and human rights,” she said.

Ms. Knaul also emphasized that judges, prosecutors and lawyers are in a unique position to tackle the wider phenomenon of corruption in other instances of the public and private sectors, and that “anti-corruption bodies should be established or developed to effectively assist judicial actors to combat corruption and to implement and strengthen transparency within the public sector.”

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.

UN News Centre

October 25, 2012
Sir Norman Bettison has resigned as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police over Hillsborough inquiry

Sir Norman Bettison has resigned as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, saying an inquiry into his role after the Hillsborough tragedy was “a distraction” to the force.

At the time of the disaster he was a South Yorkshire Police inspector who attended the match as a spectator and later took part in an internal inquiry.

Sir Norman has denied claims he helped “concoct” a false version of events.

He had been due to retire in March but had faced calls for him to go early.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is undertaking two investigations into Sir Norman, issued a statement saying: “Retirement or resignation does not prevent criminal prosecution should the investigation identify criminal offences, including misconduct in a public office.”

Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, said: “I’m absolutely delighted he’s gone but as far as I am concerned he should have been sacked.

“I would now like to know what payments and pension he’s going to get.

“Any financial benefits should be frozen until the outcome of the investigation into the cover-up.”

West Yorkshire Police Authority said media attention and the investigations by the IPCC were “proving to be a huge distraction for the force”.

Statements altered
Sir Norman has been referred to the IPCC over allegations he provided misleading information after the disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

Last month, a report by the Independent Hillsborough Panel revealed 164 police statements by South Yorkshire Police were altered – 116 of them to remove or change negative comments about the policing of the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Sheffield stadium.

It revealed a cover-up took place to shift the blame on to the victims, and that 41 of the 96 who died could have potentially been saved if they had received treatment earlier.

In a statement last month, Sir Norman said: “Fans’ behaviour, to the extent that it was relevant at all, made the job of the police, in the crush outside Leppings Lane turnstiles, harder than it needed to be.”

He apologised a day later saying Liverpool fans were “in no way to blame” for the disaster and that he was sorry if he had “caused any further upset”.

Sir Norman’s resignation comes after candidates bidding to become West Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner called for him to stand down now rather than retire in March as planned.

In a statement, he said: “The police authority, and some of the candidates in the forthcoming PCC elections, have made it clear that they wish me to go sooner.

‘Deep concerns’

Sir Norman’s resignation was announced by the West Yorkshire Police Authority
“I do so, not because of any allegations about the past, but because I share the view that this has become a distraction to policing in West Yorkshire now and in the future.”

The police authority said Deputy Chief Constable John Parkinson would take up the role of acting chief constable.

A Home Office spokesperson said Sir Norman’s resignation was “a matter for the police authority”.

Policing minister Damian Green said it was important that the West Yorkshire force was able to get on with the job of policing.

“If the inevitable deep concerns surrounding all of this – which, clearly, would be very, very understandable – were getting in the way of doing that job, then it is clearly sensible to allow West Yorkshire Police to get on with their important work.”

BBC

October 25, 2012