DJ paedo Jimmy Savile terrorised youngster he abused on ward at Prestwich Hospital
25.09.2022 - 10:15
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
He is one of the country's most reviled sex offenders, and he escaped justice. Jimmy Savile worked for the BBC as a DJ and presenter from 1964, and ruthlessly used his stardom to become possibly the most prolific paedophile in British history.
Savile is said to have had around 500 victims. When a mass of allegations emerged against Savile after his death in October 2011, aged 84, his family had his £4000 headstone overlooking the sea at Scarborough removed, and he now lies in an unmarked grave.
Savile lived in the Bury New Road area of Salford and forged his reputation as a DJ working at dance halls in Manchester and Salford. He had arrived in Manchester in 1957, and quickly employed one of his greatest talents – being noticed.
Wearing expensive smart suits, see-through shirts, pockets stuffed with pound notes, and smoking fat cigars, Savile, then 31, became one of the best-known faces on the city’s nightclub scene. He was assistant manager of the Plaza dance hall on Oxford Road and had the idea of putting on lunchtime dance sessions for young office workers. Soon teenagers were bunking off school so they could see the charismatic Savile spinning the latest US hits.
READ MORE: Steve Coogan defends Jimmy Savile drama saying 'we need to prevent it happening again'
Savile left Manchester to work for Radio Luxembourg and pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, where his reputation grew. He returned in 1964 and presented the very first edition of Top of the Pops from the BBC’s studios in Dickenson Road, Rusholme - and featured in the last in 2006.
At the height of his fame in the 60s, with his platinum-dyed hair, and zany persona, he lived in a modest flat in Great Clowes Street, Higher Broughton, where he was often seen