By coincidence, Richard Littlejohn's weekly column didn't appear on Tuesday, the day that the Daily Mail, in company with every other national newspaper, reported the conviction of Rolf Harris on 12 counts of indecent assault.

If Littlejohn had been on duty I am sure he would have wished to apologise for views he advanced in his column in May 2013.

He was critical then of detectives bothering to investigate assorted crimes, such as phone hacking and Plebgate, and also railed against police "feeling the collars of ageing celebrities accused of 'historic' sex crimes".

As for the specific investigation into Harris, he wrote:

"I wonder if those Met officers swanning round Australia interviewing women who claim to have been touched up by Rolf Harris four decades ago could have been better deployed on anti-terrorist surveillance duties in south London."

"Touched up" eh? That's an ill-advised euphemism for aggressive acts of indecency against victims aged between seven and 19.

Littlejohn might also take note of the convictions of ageing celebrities for "historic" sex crimes, such as Stuart Hall and Max Clifford. Then again, he probably thinks Jimmy Savile was guilty of nothing more than a bit of touching-up.