Savile probe uncovers list of abuse victims in ‘secret wall’

A LIST believed to detail the names of child abuse victims has been found behind a secret wall by police investigating crimes uncovered by the inquiry into disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile.

Officers swooped on a flat above a record shop in Greater Manchester following a tip-off and discovered the appalling roll call scrawled behind layers of wallpaper and plaster.

The list includes the names and ages of hundreds of boys and girls, next to a disgusting ratings system that apparently related to their sexual performance. Some of the names were reportedly boys and girls the paedophiles were planning to target.

The discovery, which allegedly dates back to the 1980s and 1990s, was made by officers from Greater Manchester Police. They are currently investigating sex abuse allegations that came to light following publicity surrounding Operation Yewtree, the inquiry into sex offences committed by Savile.

In the era before the internet, paedophiles used secret magazines or groups to share their crimes with fellow sex attackers in the same way some use internet forums now. Criminologists believe that the wall could be an example of such behaviour.

‘It is a boasting system,’ said David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University.

‘Paedophiles are constantly evolving ways of communicating. It is a form of saying, “This is what I’ve done, I’ve done more than you”.

‘It’s about them displaying their own sexual success.’

Police denied claims that the flat was used by Savile or that the names amounted to a list of his victims.

The Leeds-born Top of the Pops host had links with Greater Manchester stretching back to the 1950s. His first known attack, in 1955, also took place in the city.

Detective chief superintendent Mary Doyle said: ‘The recovery of these names came as a result of an ongoing investigation into the allegations made last year’.

‘This is a live, complex investigation for which we have already made arrests. I cannot go into great detail about the status of the investigation.’