I’m a celebrity - get me a lawyer
THE Nonce Squad have managed to find someone alive to arrest. Stuart Hall may be 82, but at least he’s a celebrity collar. He joins Dave Lee Travis on police bail as the Old Bill trawl through the BBC roster for alleged sex offenders.
We are told the arrest of Hall — best known for It’s A Knockout 30odd years ago — is not related to the Jimmy Savile inquiry, perish the thought.
I have no idea whether he is innocent or guilty. That’s for a court to decide. But would these charges ever have come to light were it not for Savile?
Hall’s mobhanded arrest was the equivalent of the very public ‘perp walk’ popular with American law enforcement, designed to give the impression of guilt.
Police took away sacks of potential ‘ evidence’. What do they expect to find, given that his alleged crimes date back to the Seventies?
Mind you, we’ve seen this before in the case of journalists hauled in over phonehacking and bribery allegations. Their homes have been ransacked by investigating officers. Looking for what?
I’ve spoken to former colleagues on The Sun who have had everything from old bank statements to intimate love letters confiscated. They have neither been charged nor exonerated as the investigation grinds on. It may be years before they can get on with their lives.
The Jimmy Savile inquiry has surpassed even phonehacking in terms of hysteria and manpower. There are more Met police officers working on Savile than on the child protection team and more on phonehacking than armed robbery.
Police have also appealed for anyone who claims to have been molested by that novelty northern nonce Cyril Smith (deceased) to come forward. What is that supposed to achieve?
A couple of weeks ago I joked that there would soon be TV adverts from spiv law firms aimed at anyone who had ever watched Top Of The Pops to file a claim for compensation. The Old Bill have beaten them to it.
Yesterday, in another highprofile arrest, PR agent Max Clifford was taken in for questioning on suspicion of sexual offences. Sacks of material were seized from his home.
Look, right from the start I haven’t been trying to make light of what are serious allegations. I’ve always said the guilty should be brought to justice. But the scale of these investigations is insane.
And Jimmy Savile remains dead.