UNITED KINGDOM
Herald Scotland
Sunday 29 June 2014
Vicky Allan
BACK in 1991 when Dr Anthony Clare interviewed Jimmy Savile for Radio 4’s In The Psychiatrist’s Chair, it was clear that he felt uncomfortable with much of what the TV presenter and DJ was saying.
Here was a man who never put down roots, who carried no baggage, who had never had any kind of long-term relationship, who spoke of having “no feelings”, who boasted of the “clout” he had and who eulogised about his own personal freedom. “I’ve got a shoulder bag that’s not been unpacked for nearly 30 years,” he said. “I don’t sleep in the same bed more than two nights running … I’m not constrained pretty well by anything. The tough thing in life is ultimate freedom.”
Those words seem particularly chilling now that we know a little about the ugly way that Savile exercised his ultimate freedom and considerable clout; now we know, through a report published last week, that he used his celebrity status and access to the NHS to “exploit and abuse” vulnerable patients and staff at several hospitals; that he boasted of having sex with corpses, and that at Leeds General Infirmary where he volunteered as porter, he abused victims aged from five to 75.
Two questions inevitably arise. Firstly, how did he manage to create this protective silence around him? Savile’s behaviour was indeed truly shocking – but even more shocking is that he got away with it for so long.
Another question crosses the mind of anyone following the Savile story: Why did he do it?
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