Hellenic Business

Journalists interviewed 10 victims and witnesses as they looked into allegations of child sex abuse by TV and radio star -

A 10-minute Newsnight film looking into allegations of child sex abuse by Sir Jimmy Savile was dropped by the programme's editor last December, even though journalists conducting the investigation had interviewed 10 alleged victims and witnesses and believed they had enough information to broadcast the story.

The intervention by Peter Rippon, Newsnight's editor, prompted a furious row behind the scenes and led journalists connected with the programme to ask questions in private about what BBC bosses above Rippon knew about the film and the decision to pull it.

The film's transmission was scheduled for mid-December, a couple of weeks before the airing by the BBC of Christmas tributes to the presenter of Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It, who died in October 2011. Pulling the film avoided a potential embarrassment for the corporation, which was elsewhere feting him as a hero to the public. BBC1 broadcast a special edition of Jim'll Fix It, hosted by Shane Ritchie, over the holiday season.

The BBC insisted on Monday that it decided not to proceed with the Newsnight film for "editorial reasons" because the abuse story "could not be substantiated", but sources within the BBC's newsroom said they feared that the corporation was embarrassed about the timing of the report in the light of its other Savile coverage.

ITV will broadcast a documentary on Wednesday night featuring claims from five women that they were sexually abused by Savile when they were girls.

One of the five, Fiona, tells the programme she was abused at BBC Television Centre in the 1970s when she had gone with other girls from Duncroft approved school near Staines, Surrey, to watch the radio DJ film a piece linked to the Clunk Click road safety campaign.

In a pre-recorded interview, Fiona (whose surname is not supplied) said that when she was at the BBC "we knew what was expected of us, we had to pay. He had an alcove in his dressing room that had a curtain over it and he would take you behind the curtain".

She added: "He always touched my breasts but at the same time he would be touching my breasts he'd always have his hands down my knickers. There were no staff around in the room, just the girls in there and one or two other people so I suppose the privacy we got was from the curtain in the alcove but, I have no doubt that he went and told everybody else what he did afterwards".

ITV's research builds on the unreleased Newsnight film and is based on an investigation conducted by former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who acted as an adviser to the BBC team. Newsnight's work began almost immediately after Savile's death at the age of 84. Within about a month, the BBC team had persuaded one victim to be filmed on the record; the others were only prepared to give evidence anonymously or under pseudonyms.

The Newsnight reporters involved were confident enough in their material to put together a script for a 10- or 12-minute package, indicating they believed their film was largely complete. Initially, Rippon was understood to be ready to air it.

However, the mood changed soon afterwards. It is understood that the reporters were asked to meet two preconditions set by Rippon. First, they had to demonstrate that there had been a police investigation into Savile. Newsnight was able to confirm privately that he had been interviewed under caution in 2007 – a fact not stated in public until Monday .

At this point, a second condition was introduced. Newsnight had learned that the Crown Prosecution Service had concluded that it was not in the public interest to charge Savile, and the Newsnight team was asked to find out why. Some of those interviewed by the BBC said they believed Savile was not charged because by then he was too old. The production team were asked to confirm this with the CPS, but the prosecutors would only say they did not proceed against Savile for lack of evidence. It is understood that when this information was relayed to Rippon, it was used as the justification for quashing the film, causing resentment that gradually spread around the newsroom.

It is not clear who -if anybody- Rippon consulted at the BBC before the bar on conditions that had to be met to air the film changed. Official BBC sources insisted that the decision not to air the programme was an editorial judgment made by the Newsnight editor, and not imposed by any senior executive above him.

It is understood that Helen Boaden, the director of BBC News, was made aware of the Newsnight investigation as part of routine editorial procedures. But insiders said she did not take the final decision on whether the programme should be broadcast. The BBC said: "It is absolutely untrue that the Newsnight investigation was dropped for anything other than editorial reasons. We have been very clear from the start that the piece was not broadcast because the story we were pursuing could not be substantiated. To say otherwise is false and very damaging to the BBC and individuals. The notion that internal pressure was applied appears to be a malicious rumour.

"No pressure was applied to drop this investigation. None. To suggest otherwise is to risk impugning the professional reputation and integrity of a number of journalists."

The Guardian