Police missed chance to get Savile in 2008

A POLICE force missed a chance to investigate Jimmy Savile three years before he died after mishandling a report he sexually assaulted a woman, a watchdog has found.

Sussex detectives did not follow all lines of inquiry properly after the woman alleged in 2008 that she was attacked in a caravan in Worthing in 1970 when in her 20s, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said.

Although there was no evidence officers deliberately dissuaded the woman from pursuing the allegation, she felt reluctant to do so following contact with police, the IPCC said.

Deputy chairman Sarah Green said the woman felt the two male detectives who visited her in March 2008 had a negative attitude towards her pursuing her allegation. Failing to send a trained female officer, plus the perceived absence of support, led to a missed opportunity to investigate the predatory paedophile, who died in 2011. The woman, referred to as Mrs A, told the IPCC she felt the detectives who visited her ‘tried to frighten me off’. She said one, Officer A, described Savile as a very powerful man while Officer B had asked ‘are you getting money for this?’.

Officer A denied they tried to persuade Mrs A not to pursue her complaint. Officer B could not remember specifics of the conversation.

The IPCC found no evidence Savile’s celebrity impacted on the police inquiry. None of the four officers it investigated had a misconduct case to answer, but potential performance issues need addressing. Sussex Police said it takes into account the issues raised.