Freddie Starr claims police don't want to talk him about abuse accusations in wake of Savile sex scandal



Freddie Starr asks police to interview him about allegations made about him, which he says are all false

PR guru Max Clifford claims celebrities have been ringing him over scandal

Savile could be posthumously stripped of Papal knighthood

after request from Archbishop of Westminster



Scotland Yard reveals 'three BBC stars' may have helped Savile or abused children themselves, adding: 'We will come for them'

Police missed chances to arrest Savile in the 1970s, 1980s and even four years ago when he was accused of abuse by children and adults

Freddie Starr is prepared to talk to police about sexual abuse accusations, which he strenuously denies.

The former television presenter is accused of groping a 14-year-old girl in disgraced Jimmy Saville's BBC dressing room.

The comic initially denied ever meeting 52-year-old Karin Ward, who claims he molested her, but then footage of them together on his BBC Clunk-Click show in 1974 surfaced.

But he has announced that he is willing to talk to police about the devastating claims, which he says are completely untrue, The Sun reported.

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Freddie Starr, seen here with Karin Ward, says that he is prepared to talk to police about the accusations

Karin Ward claims she was groped by Freddie Starr, who has strongly denied the allegations

The Archbishop of Westminster has written to the Church asking for the knighthood to be removed

A spokeswoman for Starr said he would be prepared to talk to officers investigating claims of abuse by Savile.



'Freddie is prepared to be interviewed by the police, but his lawyer has been in touch with the person that is heading the investigation and they have no intention of questioning him,' said the spokeswoman.

A Scotland Yard spokesman declined to comment, saying: 'We would never discuss who we would want to speak to as part of an investigation.'

The revelations come as PR guru Max Clifford claims dozen of big name stars from the 1960s and 70s have called him 'frightened to death' they will become implicated in the widening Jimmy Savile scandal.

He said the stars, some of whom are still well known today, were worried because at their peak they lived a hedonistic lifestyle where young girls threw themselves at them and they 'never asked for anybody's birth certificate'.

His comments came as it was revealed that Savile could be the first person to be posthumously stripped of a Papal knighthood after the Archbishop of Westminster has asked for it to be removed, the BBC reported.

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has asked the Vatican to consider removing the honour, as senior members of the Church are unhappy that the disgraced star's name remains on the papal honours list.

The Papal knighthood is one of one of the highest awards the Pope can bestow.

Although the knighthood dies with the recipient, their name still appears on the list.

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, has written to Rome asking whether Savile's Papal knighthood could be annulled in recognition of his victims' 'deep distress'.

Shame: Seven accusations of sexual abuse levelled at Jimmy Savile were investigated by police but dropped, It was revealed today

A spokesman for the Archbishop of Westminster said that he had written to the Holy See last week 'asking the competent office to investigate whether the Papal honour awarded to Jimmy Savile for his charitable works could be posthumously removed and its effects nullified, recognising the deep distress of all those who have suffered abuse and the disquiet at Mr Savile's name remaining on Papal honours lists.'

Police have revealed that they are investigating three former BBC bosses from a flagship 1980s TV programme after victims claimed the men were in league with Savile.

SAVILE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES BANNED FROM PUBS

Pubs and clubs have vowed to turn away any customers wearing Jimmy Savile fancy dress on Halloween. With trick or treat night approaching, there are concerns drinkers may dress as the disgraced former DJ and presenter, who died a year ago.

Police now believe he may have abused hundreds of girls and women.

However, several venues in Nottingham have said that anyone 'tasteless and disrespectful' to dress as Savile will be barred entry.

Charlotte Cordon, deputy manager of Yates's in the city centre, said one Savile impersonator had already been turned away.

She added: 'We feel it is very inappropriate as Yates's is a family venue in the day and we don't want people to be offended by what has happened and therefore lose custom on the basis.

'It is completely unacceptable to be making jokes about this situation and anyone attempting it will be refused entry and service.'

The former ‘key personnel’ were named to police after the alleged victims had reported their ordeals to a charity.

Scotland Yard is preparing an ‘arrest strategy’ to target living accomplices of the late paedophile presenter.

Speaking on London's LBC radio, Mr Clifford said young pop stars at the time had gone from working in a factory one week to performing in front of thousands of people 'and girls are screaming and throwing themselves at them then'.

'All kinds of things went on and I do mean young girls throwing themselves at them in their dressing rooms at concert halls, at gigs, whatever,' he said.



'They never asked for anybody's birth certificate and they were young lads... suddenly everyone's dream was a reality.'



He added: 'We are talking about a lot of people that were huge names in the 60s and 70s and a lot of them barely remember what they did last week, genuinely.

'For them to try and recount what happened in a dressing room in 1965 or 1968 or 1972, genuinely they are frightened to death.'



He told James Whale that the investigation needed to focus on the 'facilitators' who lurked on the periphery and had had years to cover their backs.

'I am hoping that the real predators are the ones we are going to find out about - the Glitters of this world, the Saviles of this world, not people that were randy young pop stars in the 1960s, 70s and 80s even, that had women throwing themselves at them everywhere they went, because that is a whole different area and a whole different situation,' he said.

Attack: An investigation into claims that Savile abused someone in his caravan at BBC Television Centre were dropped by police, it emerged today

Police have already recorded 114 crimes of sexual abuse, the majority of which involved Savile.

Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Spindler said: ‘The vast majority are about Savile but there are others. We are preparing an arrest strategy.’



Referring to Savile’s alleged accomplices, adding that the 'boil has been lanced' when it came to the TV star's attacks.

'It is quite staggering the number of women,' he added.



'The vast majority are about Savile but there are others. We are preparing an arrest strategy.'

The hitlist includes former BBC employees accused of colluding with Savile, including one who allegedly raped a beauty queen.

Pete Saunders, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said: ‘We have had several allegations about people abused at the BBC but not by Savile himself. We have been told of three key personnel on a flagship BBC programme from the 1980s.’ The callers were directed to the police, he added.

Separately there have been accusations Savile ran a ‘gang of four’ at the Top of the Pops programme, said to be staff including a cameraman.

THE 7 CHANCES MISSED BY POLICE TO ARREST SEX BEAST SAVILE

1980s: A girl claims she was abused in Savile's caravan at the BBC but police drop it 2003: Woman says he groped her in 1970s 2007: Surrey police look into claims child sexually assaulted by Savile at a Staines school in 1970s

2007: Girl tells Surrey force she was abused at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1973 2007: Surrey told that another girl abused at same Staines school in late 1970s 2007: Adult from Sussex tells Surrey investigation team she was sexually assaulted in 1970 2008: Man comes forward and says he was abused at a Jersey children's home decades earlier

Police say 300 people – all but two of them women – now allege they were victims of the DJ and those in his circle.

The NSPCC has received 170 calls directly relating to Savile which have been passed on to police.

Mark Williams-Thomas, the former detective whose ITV documentary triggered an avalanche of revelations about Savile, predicted: ‘The true figure [of victims] is going to be closer to 500-plus.



'There are people in significant standings in the community who will hopefully be sleeping very uncomfortably – and who will in due course be subject to criminal investigation.’

The Mail revealed three weeks ago how a former beauty queen, named Sandra, had told police she was raped by one of Savile’s BBC staff in a studio storeroom in 1970 when she was 23.

The same man was named by other women as having procured girls for Savile to molest. Now retired, he has denied the allegations to the Mail. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency has been asked to examine whether anyone named by victims is still working with children.

These could include BBC staff and even doctors from hospitals where Savile abused patients during his high-profile charity work. No NHS chief has yet apologised to Savile’s victims.

Savile was never charged. But there were seven police investigations, including one into an alleged attack in his caravan at BBC Television Centre in London.

Black and white: Picture of Saville's Dodge 'Hustler' released on the day a woman accused him of attacking her in his caravan at BBC Television Centre

Judith Folker, 68, who was working in The Retreat pub in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, said two London policemen came in one night in July 1985. ‘Jimmy Savile came up in conversation and the police said there was enough evidence to prosecute him on child sex offences but that they had been told from “on high” to leave it,’ she added.

‘They didn’t say why they had been told not to but they weren’t happy about it.’ The police forces involved say they dropped the investigations due to lack of evidence or because victims did not want to take it further.

Surrey police dropped an investigation in 2009 which had looked at four attacks and Jersey police shelved one probe that involved Savile's alleged abuse of a young boy in a notorious care home.

But police appear to want to put things right, having spoken to more than 100 people who have claimed to have been preyed on by the sick broadcaster.

'I DON'T DO UNDER-AGE SEX', SAVILE DENIED ABUSE BEFORE HE DIED

Disgraced presenter and DJ Jimmy Savile denied having sex with under-age girls in a television interview six years ago.

In a programme broadcast on Ulster Television (UTV) in 2006 (pictured above), the former star also boasted about how the press would never find any dirt on him.

He said: 'There isn't any. I'm very boring. Any tabloid journalist will tell you two things - one, I'm very boring, two, I don't do drugs, I don't do under-age sex or any of them things that you read in the papers today.

'But they still like coming round to talk to me. Cos they know I will give them an angle they have never had before.' The UTV interview was filmed at one of Savile's properties in Leeds during the autumn of 2006. It was aired in October that year as part of the Gerry Meets... series, hosted by Gerry Kelly.

In it, Savile spoke about his lack of interest in how he was perceived and revealed he had little interest in the world beyond his own.

He added: 'I don't have an internet, I don't have a computer. I don't know what an email is, I don't know anything about that world.

Responding to a question about whether he would have liked children of his own, the unmarried Savile made some disturbing remarks.

He said: 'I think all children should be eaten at birth. That's for sure. No, I'm not a child person. I was one once.'

'I have no doubt that we are in watershed moment for child abuse investigation and this will be a landmark investigation,' Mr Spindler said.

'I want to praise the courage of the 300 or so who have come forward.

The seven investigations dropped were:

Indecent assault of girl in Savile's caravan at BBC Televison Centre in the In 1980s

Inappropriate touching dating in repeated attacks of one woman back to the 1970s

indecent assault of a childen at her school in Staines, Surrey in the 1970s

Indecent assault of a child while she was at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1973

Savile also tried to engage a child to carry out a sexual act at her school in Staines in the 1970s



Accused of indecently assaulting an adult in Sussex in 1970

Four years ago - accused of abusing a boy, 10, at Jersey’s Haut de la Garenne children’s home in 1970s

The forces involved say that they dropped the investigations because of lack of evidence or because victims did not want to take it further, although Scotland Yard say they cannot find the file on the caravan assault.

And on Thursday a senior member of the Government slammed the Crown Prosecution Service for failing to get Savile before the courts.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: 'The real scandal is why was it that in 2009 when he was still alive, the CPS had a lot of evidence and yet didn’t prosecute.'

Meanwhile a Lothian and Borders Police spokesman also said today that the force has received two complaints about Savile's behaviour - one in Edinburgh and the other in Newcastle.



He said: 'Two disclosures have been made to Lothian and Borders Police, one of which was in relation to an historical incident that happened in Edinburgh, and the other to an historical incident that happened in the Newcastle area.



'Full details have been provided to the Metropolitan Police, and support is being offered to the women concerned.'



VIDEO: Jimmy Savile denies allegations in an interview - SIX years ago...



Anger: Vince Cable said on BBC's Question Time last night (pictured) that it was a scandal the CPS had not prosecuted Savile while he was alive

The Jim’ll Fix It star faced questions in the 1980s after the child claimed she was indecently assaulted in his caravan, which he had parked outside the BBC’s headquarters.

Pledge: Met commander Peter Spindler told several TV stars accused of abuse that police are 'coming to get them'

The allegation came to light after a retired officer from the Met’s juvenile bureau at Hammersmith and Fulham police station came forward.

He said there had not been enough evidence to prosecute Savile.

It is one of the earliest known full police inquiries into the entertainer and took place at the height of his abuse.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency has been asked to examine whether anyone named by victims is still working with children.



These could include BBC staff and even doctors from some of the hospitals where Savile abused patients under the guise of charity.



Mr Spindler said: ‘While Britain reflects on how Savile was able to hide in plain sight, I think it’s quite important that we focus on what’s happening today in our society.

'Our activities in the coming weeks will be a stark warning to any men out there today who think they can exploit their positions of power and influence and abuse children and young people in Britain. '



It has emerged that licence fee payers will fund personal lawyers for executives embroiled in the Newsnight row about the axed Savile inquiry.



The BBC said it would be ‘assisting’ with the legal expenses incurred by editor Peter Rippon, and will also help pay for lawyers for the £340,000-a-year director of news Helen Boaden, and her deputy Stephen Mitchell, who is paid £196,950.