Police to publish report on relationship with Jimmy Savile

Findings to detail all contact between force and DJ accused of sexual abuse

More than 40 victims from West Yorkshire have come forward since Operation Yewtree was launched by the Metropolitan Police in October. Photograph:  Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
More than 40 victims from West Yorkshire have come forward since Operation Yewtree was launched by the Metropolitan Police in October. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

West Yorkshire Police will today publish a report into its involvement and relationship with Jimmy Savile.

The force began a review in January of all past contact with Savile, who lived in Leeds, after a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) highlighted failings by forces across Britain.

The force said: they will “publish the findings of an extensive force review into the late Jimmy Savile, his crimes and the force’s relationship with him.”

It added: “As well as publication of the report, a copy will be passed to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, whom matters were referred to some weeks ago.”

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More than 40 victims from West Yorkshire have come forward since Operation Yewtree was launched by the Metropolitan Police in October.

But the HMIC report, published earlier this year, said West Yorkshire Police claimed it had no information relating to Savile’s crimes in the area.

It also found that "inquiries were continuing in an effort to identify" an anonymous letter sent to the force by Scotland Yard in 1998, which claimed Savile was a paedophile.

Other issues identified by the HMIC report included two former West Yorkshire officers and a relative of an officer claiming they were aware of concerns regarding Savile’s contact with young girls.

And newspaper reports were uncovered which indicated that the DJ had been interviewed by West Yorkshire Police in 1958 and was due to appear in court regarding allegations that he was involved in the sexual abuse of young girls.

The force has said one of the issues it was investigating was Savile’s Friday coffee mornings, which were attended by a variety of people at his Leeds flat, including former and serving West Yorkshire Police officers.

A separate matter, relating to a suggestion that a West Yorkshire officer “acted on behalf” of Savile by contacting Surrey Police with the DJ’s contact details ahead of a police interview in 2009, is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.