The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hall seen as being ‘untouchable’
BBC staff failed to report disgraced presenter Stuart Hall indulging in “inappropriate sexual conduct” partly because he was seen as an “untouchable” celebrity, a report found.
Staff at the BBC in Manchester knew the former It’s A Knockout host was taking women into his dressing room for sex, although not that some of them were under age, a report by former High Court judge Dame Linda Dobbs found.
The report said there were 21 complainants linked to Hall’s work at the BBC between 1967 and 1991, but no complaints were passed on to senior management.
Hall, now 86, was released in December after serving half of a five-year jail term for historical indecent assaults.
The report said people who were interviewed gave various reasons for a failure to report him, including fears they might lose their job.
Summarising Dame Linda’s report, Dame Janet Smith said: “There were also concerns that management would not deal with it because of Hall’s importance to the success of his shows and his celebrity status; he therefore became ‘untouchable’.”