Dame Janet Smith’s review found there was a culture of “reverence and fear” towards celebrities at the corporation and that “an atmosphere of fear still exists today in the BBC”. ‘Untouchable’ Stuart Hall brought young girls to BBC studios for ‘elocution lessons’ Veteran DJ Tony Blackburn ‘sacked’ as Savile sex abuse report published Yorkshire ex-policeman who claimed he was Jimmy Savile’s friend is cleared of misconduct According to the report, sexual incidents involving Savile took place “in virtually every one of the BBC’s premises at which he worked”, including studios in Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow. When a junior female employee at Television Centre complained to her supervisor that she had been sexually assaulted by Leeds-born Savile, she was told “keep your mouth shut, he is a VIP”, the report found. Dame Janet said girls who dared to complain about being sexually assaulted were regarded as “a nuisance” and their claims not properly dealt with. Among the incidents reported by Dame Janet is that of an employee at BBC Leeds who, aged 19, was subjected to an attempted sexual assault by Savile in a London park after going to the capital to watch a recording presented by the DJ in 1970. When she told a colleague, “he was sympathetic but advised her not to make any formal report”, the review said. “He thought that if she did so she ‘would come out the loser’.” A colleague of Savile’s at BBC Leeds in the 1970s told the review’s authors that she walked into Savile’s dressing room after a recording of Yorkshire Speakeasy at the corporation’s old HQ at Woodhouse Lane, and saw a girl on his knee. The report said: “She had her arm round his shoulder and he had his hand up her skirt. He was kissing her and, as he pulled away from her, she could see that he had had his tongue in her mouth. She was wearing school uniform.” The colleague, Sue Thompson, said the incident took place during a visit by young people from a school for the blind. According to the report: “She thinks the girl was blind but is not sure.” BBC staff missed a string of opportunities dating back to the late 1960s to stop Savile, who died at his home in Leeds in October 2011 aged 84, never having been brought to justice for his crimes and is now believed to be one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders. Dame Janet’s report found that 117 people at the BBC heard rumours about Savile, but ruled the corporation as a corporate body was not told. Her report states: “In summary, my conclusion is that certain junior and middle-ranking individuals were aware of Savile’s inappropriate sexual conduct in connection with his work for the BBC. “However, I have found no evidence that the BBC, as a corporate body, was aware of Savile’s inappropriate sexual conduct in connection with his work for the BBC.” Dame Janet also says Savile seemed “to have been proud of the notion that he and the police in Leeds were in a corrupt relationship with each other”. But the report was branded “an expensive whitewash” by a lawyer representing victims of Savile and fellow shamed broadcaster Stuart Hall. Liz Dux, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon Lawyers, who represents 168 victims, said: “All the Savile and Hall victims have ever wanted from this report is truth and accountability. “Despite millions having been spent on the inquiry, my clients will feel let down that the truth has still not been unearthed and many will feel it is nothing more than an expensive whitewash. “It is unfortunate that Dame Janet had no power to compel senior managers to give evidence, giving the impression that the whole picture of who knew what has not been revealed.” Lord Hall, director general of the BBC, apologised to victims of Savile and Hall, following today’s report. He said: “The BBC failed you when it should have protected you. I’m deeply sorry for the hurt caused to each and every one of you.” Today’s publication came as veteran DJ Tony Blackburn accused the BBC of making him a “scapegoat” after he was sacked on the eve of its publication. Blackburn, 73, said “all relationships” he had with the BBC were “terminated with immediate effect” this week because his evidence to Dame Janet’s review concerning an investigation in 1971 contradicted the BBC’s own version of events. He has pledged to take legal action against the corporation which he claims is making him a “scapegoat” for the “cover-up” of abuse. Dame Janet’s review looks at the culture and practices at the corporation during the years that Savile and Hall, who has been in prison for sex attacks on under-age girls, worked there. Savile raped and sexually assaulted 72 people, male and female, in connection with his work at the BBC dating back to 1959, while 21 people fell victim to Hall, 86, whose offending dates back to the 1960s, a report by Dame Linda Dobbs found. Dame Janet said “Savile and Hall make very sorry reading for the BBC” and that the pair used their fame and charisma to prey on their mainly young victims. Her report states: “Savile would gratify himself sexually on BBC premises whenever the opportunity arose and I heard of incidents which took place in virtually every one of the BBC premises at which he worked.” This included the BBC Theatre at Shepherd’s Bush where Jim’ll Fix It and Clunk Click were filmed, Television Centre where Top Of The Pops was filmed, and Broadcasting House. Eight complaints about Savile’s behaviour were made to BBC staff as early as the late 1960s, but each time they were brushed off or not escalated up the chain of command. In late 1989 or early 1990 Savile stuck his hand up a female junior employee’s skirt at Television Centre. The woman, referred to as C51, complained to her boss but was told “keep your mouth shut, he is a VIP”. More than a decade earlier, in November 1976, Savile was in front of the rolling cameras presenting Top Of The Pops when he put his hand under the bottom of a member of the audience next to him. She leapt into the air and later complained to a BBC employee, but her accusation was shrugged off and she was told it was “just Jimmy Savile mucking about”. In the mid-1970s Ian Hampton, bass player with the pop group Sparks, also tried to raise the alarm. He had heard rumours that Savile had sex with under-age girls and spotted him leaving the Top Of The Pops studio with a young girl. The guitarist alerted a BBC presenter, but was simply told not to be silly, while on another occasion he spoke to producer Robin Nash, but was told not to be ridiculous. Andy Kershaw, a former Radio 1 disc jockey who was also entertainments secretary of Leeds University Student Union in the early 1980s, was scathing about Savile. He said Savile lacked social skills and did not have social contact with his BBC Radio 1 colleagues. He described Savile as a “very, very unpleasant, self-obsessed bloke”, who, through his charitable work, had reinvented himself from a “gangland enforcer”, which was his reputation while working in the entertainment industry in Leeds. Dame Janet said there was a culture of not reporting complaints at the BBC from the 1970s right the way through to the 1990s, and a fear of saying anything that might “rock the boat”. She warned there was a particular fear of whistleblowing at the corporation and “I was told that an atmosphere of fear still exists today in the BBC”. She added: “As I have said, there was a culture of not complaining about anything. The culture of not complaining about a member of the Talent was even stronger. “Members of the Talent, such as Savile, were to a real degree protected from complaint. “The first reason for this is because of a deference or even adulation which was, and still can be, accorded to celebrity in our society. The second reason was because of the attitude within the BBC toward the Talent. The evidence I heard suggested that the Talent was treated with kid gloves and rarely challenged.” She added: “There was a feeling of reverence for them and a fear that, if a star were crossed, he or she might leave the BBC.” She criticised the hierarchy, rivalry and “macho culture” in parts of the BBC, and its complaints procedures. Dame Janet found that no senior manager at the BBC “ever found out about any specific complaint relating to Savile’s inappropriate sexual conduct in connection with his work for the BBC”. However, she highlighted several people who, if they had escalated their concerns, could have helped stop Savile sooner. And she underlined an occasion when the BBC’s investigation fell short. In the 1970s, Canon Colin Semper, who was then a reverend, worked with Savile on God’ll Fix It and was subsequently promoted to head of religious programmes. Dame Janet stated: “I accept that Canon Semper did not ‘know’ that Savile had sex with under-age girls in the sense of ever having seen it happen, but he clearly did ‘think’ that Savile had casual sex with a lot of girls, some of whom might have been under age. “Canon Semper did not make any report to his managers. I have concluded that he ought to have discussed his concerns with a manager.” She also found that there was one occasion when “a senior manager heard disturbing rumours about Savile”. In 1973 Douglas Muggeridge, the controller of Radio 1 and 2 who has since died, “heard rumours of Savile’s sexual impropriety”, she stated. He set up to lines of inquiry - a meeting was held between Savile, Derek Chinnery, then head of programmes for Radio 1, and Doreen Davies, an executive producer. The report stated: “Savile was asked whether there was any truth in the rumours. He said there was not and it appears that Mr Chinnery and Ms Davies believed him.” The second line of inquiry saw BBC Radio publicity officer Rodney Collins look into similar rumours, but he found no hard evidence. Dame Janet stated: “It appears to me that the main concern which prompted his (Mr Muggeridge’s) inquiries was the risk of damage to the BBC’s reputation, rather than the welfare of any girls who might have been sexually involved with Savile. “It seems likely that, as a result of his inquiries, he believed the rumours to be untrue. Even so, I am surprised that he should have closed the book quite as completely as he appears to have done.” She said that, in 1969 and 1971, the BBC received “a number of wake-up calls” about the risks teenage girls were exposed to on Top Of The Pops. These included newspaper reports about the picking-up of teenage girls at the show by staff members while it was facing another probe into claims that producers were playing records for money. The report found: “The BBC’s investigations into the possibility that young girls attending Top Of The Pops were at risk of moral danger did not evince any real concern for the welfare of the young audience. “The impression I have is that the BBC regarded these girls as something of a nuisance.” The BBC has paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds to the victims of Savile. The corporation has settled 36 claims, paying out £526,000 in damages and £381,000 in legal fees, a spokesman said. A further eight claims were rejected. ‘Untouchable’ Stuart Hall brought young girls to BBC studios for ‘elocution lessons’ Veteran DJ Tony Blackburn ‘sacked’ as Savile sex abuse report published Yorkshire ex-policeman who claimed he was Jimmy Savile’s friend is cleared of misconduct