Operation Yewtree

Operation Yewtree is a police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly the abuse of children, against the British media personality Jimmy Savile (who died in 2011) and others. The investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Service started in October 2012. After a period of assessment it became a full criminal investigation, involving inquiries into living people as well as Savile.

On 19 October 2012 the Metropolitan Police reported that more than 400 lines of enquiry had been assessed and over 200 potential victims had been identified. By 19 December, eight people had been questioned; the total number of alleged victims was 589, of whom 450 alleged abuse by Savile. The report of the investigations into the activities of Savile himself was published, as Giving Victims a Voice, in January 2013. Operation Yewtree continued as an investigation into others linked with, or independent of, Savile.

Background

An ITV documentary, Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, researched and presented by former police detective Mark Williams-Thomas, was broadcast on 3 October 2012. The programme contained several allegations by women who said that, as teenagers, they had been sexually abused by Savile, who had gained access to them through the television programmes he had presented and his charity work.^[1] Following the broadcast, many other people came forward to make allegations about Savile's conduct towards young people, including sexual abuse that had taken place on BBC premises and in hospitals to which Savile had access.^[2]

Operation Yewtree is concerned with:

• claims against Savile;
• claims against Savile and others; and
• claims against others.^[3][4]

Initial assessments

On 4 October 2012, the Metropolitan Police said it would take the national lead in a process of assessing the allegations.^[5][6] The assessment was undertaken by the Serious Case Team of the service's Child Abuse Investigation Command, led by Detective Superintendent David Gray working closely with the BBC. The police said, "Our priority will be to ensure a proportionate and consistent policing response putting the victims at the heart of our enquiries", and that "it is not an investigation at this stage".^[5]

The Metropolitan Police announced on 9 October that the inquiry into the allegations would be called Operation Yewtree, and would be undertaken jointly with the NSPCC. The police had formally recorded eight allegations against Savile, but announced they were following 120 lines of inquiry, covering up to 25 victims of abuse, mainly girls aged between 13 and 16. The allegations covered four decades, from 1959 until the 1980s, and were on "a national scale". Commander Peter Spindler, head of specialist crime investigations,^[7] said, "At this stage it is quite clear from what women are telling us that Savile was a predatory sex offender."^[8] Operation Yewtree aimed to report by the end of November;^[9] the publication date was later revised to early 2013.^[10]

"Yewtree" was chosen from a list of names which are intended to be neutral and unrelated to the particular case.^[11]

Criminal investigation

The Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation on 19 October 2012 as, in addition to the historic allegations of child sex abuse by Savile, there were "lines of inquiry involving living people that require formal investigation".^[12] The police were pursuing over 400 separate lines of inquiry based on evidence of 200 witnesses via 14 police forces across the UK. The criminal investigations within Operation Yewtree were led by Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Niven, head of the Metropolitan Police's child abuse investigation command.^[13]

Commander Peter Spindler said: "The public's response to this issue has been astounding. We are dealing with alleged abuse on an unprecedented scale. The profile of this operation has empowered a staggering number of victims to come forward to report the sexual exploitation which occurred during their childhood."^[14][15] He said that: "We are dealing with a major criminal investigation. This is a watershed moment for child abuse investigations and Yewtree will be a landmark investigation."^[13]

On 25 October the police reported that the number of possible victims was 300,^[16] and on 15 November reported the number had reached 450.^[17] Investigations took place into allegations that living people had undertaken abuse with Savile and other claims that had come forward of abuse not involving Savile. It was reported that about 60 of the claims related to allegations of abuse by people other than Savile.^[13]

Police have questioned ten people as part of Operation Yewtree.^[18] As of 2013, fourteen separate inquiries are continuing, including an inquiry by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary into police investigative failures.^[19] Approximately 600 people had provided information at the time of the publication of the Savile report, Giving Victims a Voice, with 450 such allegations relating to Savile.^[4][20] This resulted in the formal recording of a total of 214 criminal offences^[20][21][22] across 28 police forces.

Arrests

Former pop star and convicted sex offender Gary Glitter was arrested as part of the investigations into Savile on 28 October 2012;^[23][24][25] he was questioned at a London police station for more than nine hours and bailed until December.^[25]

Comedian Freddie Starr was arrested on 1 November on suspicion of related offences and released on bail the following day.^[26][27] He was re-arrested on 24 April 2013.^[28]

On 11 November, former BBC producer Wilfred De'ath, who had been interviewed for the Exposure documentary, was arrested in Cambridge on suspicion of connected sexual offences; he was later released on bail,^[29] denying the claims made against him.^[30] No charges were brought against De'ath after the complainant withdrew her statement, confirmed Alison Saunders the chief crown prosecutor for CPS London in March 2013.^[31] De'ath was later told that he would not face any charges, and said that the police action had been "overzealous".^[32]

A fourth man, DJ Dave Lee Travis, was arrested in Bedfordshire on 15 November;^[17] he was later released on bail. The police said allegations against him were unrelated to Savile, and Travis said his arrest had been on matters not linked to children.^[33] Travis was re-arrested on 13 March 2013 on suspicion of further sexual offences.^[34] Travis was charged on 15 August 2013 on suspicion of 12 historical sex offences.^[35]

On 6 December, it was reported that publicist Max Clifford had been arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, on suspicion of sexual offences;^[36] after his release on bail, he denied what he termed the "damaging and totally untrue allegations".^[37] On 26 April 2013, Clifford was charged with 11 indecent assaults against girls and young women between 1965 and 1985.^[38]

A man in his sixties unnamed at the time, later stated to be former BBC chauffeur David Smith, was arrested in London on 10 December.^[39] Smith was the first suspect to be charged in the investigation, on 3 April.^[40] Smith was found dead on 28 October 2013, after failing to appear for a court appearance.^[41]

An eighth man, former BBC radio producer Ted Beston, was arrested on 19 December.^[42] On 14 May 2013, it was reported that Beston would not face prosecution due to insufficient evidence.^[43]

Comedian Jim Davidson and DJ Mike Osman were arrested on 2 January 2013.^[44] Another man, aged 65, was arrested in south London on 5 February.^[45] It was later announced that Davidson and Osman would face no further action.^[46]

In late November 2012 an unnamed man in his 80s was questioned by the Metropolitan Police and his Berkshire house was searched.^[47] He was arrested in Berkshire on 28 March 2013.^[48] On 19 April this was stated by the BBC and other media sources to be Rolf Harris.^[49] On 29 August Harris was charged with 13 separate offences relating to the abuse of minors.^[50] On 23 December 2013, Harris was charged with 3 further separate sexual assault charges which are against females aged 19 in 1984, aged seven or eight in 1968 or 1969, and aged 14 in 1975.^[51]

Another unnamed man, aged 65, was arrested in Somerset on 4 April.^[52] On 16 October it was confirmed he would not be prosecuted.^[53] Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck was arrested by North Yorkshire Police after an Operation Yewtree file was passed to them concerning a claim he sexually abused a young boy in the 1970s.^[54]

Two unnamed men aged 64 and 74 were arrested on 29 October at separate addresses in South London,^[55] on 1 November 2013, it was reported that BBC broadcaster Paul Gambaccini was the 64 year old man arrested on suspicion of historical sexual offences as part of Operation Yewtree. His spokesman said that he denied the allegations.^[56]

On 17 December 2013, Dr Michael Salmon, aged 78, who worked at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital where Savile allegedly abused some of his victims, was accused of assaulting four girls under the age of 16 between 1972 and 1985, including one count of rape.^[57]

Completion of investigation

On 11 December, the Metropolitan Police stated that the investigation of the abuse undertaken by Savile had been completed, and that the report of Operation Yewtree was being prepared for publication early in 2013. The operation had involved 30 police officers, and its cost so far was estimated at about £2 million.^[10] In a statement the following day, Commander Peter Spindler said that a total of 589 alleged victims of abuse had come forward in the inquiry, of whom 450 alleged abuse by Savile. Of the alleged victims, 82% were female and 80% were children or young people. There were 31 allegations of rape by Savile, across seven police force areas. Commander Spindler said: "Savile's offending peaked in the 70s and what we can show, or will be showing in the New Year, is how he used his position in society across the country—the crimes relate to 17 different police force areas—how he exploited this position to get his sexual gratification."^[58]

Giving Victims a Voice

The joint report prepared by the Metropolitan Police Service and the NSPCC, Giving Victims a Voice, was published in January 2013, and marked the end of investigations under Operation Yewtree into Savile alone. It reported that sex offences were committed by Savile on 450 people^[59] (328 being children at the time),^[60] across England and ^[61] Scotland,^[59] with allegations also made in Jersey.^[19] The vast majority of offences occurred in his home town of Leeds and in London, his main place of work.^[62]

The victims were "mainly not known to each other".^[4][62] His youngest victim was aged 8 years, the oldest 47.^[61] Most were aged 13–16,^[61] with 73% being under 18^[62] and the majority being minors.^[22] The attacks included 18 girls and 10 boys under the age of 10,^[60] and were mostly against young girls aged under 16.^[63]

The offences were mostly opportunistic, although child grooming was involved in some cases.^[61][62] The first and final known offences were in 1955 and 2009 respectively.^[59][61] The period containing most frequent offending was between 1966 and '76 (when he was aged 40–50),^[60][61][62] coinciding with his "peak [celebrity] status".^[64] The most frequent offending was during 1975 and '76 with each year having 15 offences recorded in it.^[65]

Savile's celebrity status meant that he was considered to have been "hiding in plain sight".^[59][61] Operation Yewtree's senior investigating officer, DS David Gray, said Savile used Jim'll Fix It "as a vehicle to gain access to victims".^[4] Most allegations had not previously been reported to authorities, with victims stating reasons of fear of disbelief or distrust of the judicial system.^[62] At least seven allegations^[19][66] of sexual assault made to police during Savile's lifetime were not linked.^[19] The CPS said prosecutions "might have been possible" in connection with allegations made to Surrey Police between 2007 and 2009.^[61]

The NSPCC described Savile as "one of the most prolific sex offenders in its 129-year history".^[3] The BBC restated a "sincere apology to the victims".^[3]

References

External links

• Official website