[Omah]

Paul Gambaccini claims Sir Jimmy Savile used charity work to prevent sexual abuse of schoolchildren being exposed

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...d-8191761.html

Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini has added to the allegations that Sir Jimmy Savile sexually abused schoolchildren, claiming the star used his charity work and ‘imperial personality’ within show business to prevent his private life being exposed.

Speaking ahead of an ITV documentary that claims Savile abused schoolgirls during his many years of stardom, Gambaccini said his former Radio 1 colleague played tabloid newspapers “like a Stradivarius” in order to keep the abuse secret.

Speaking on ITV1’s Daybreak programme this morning, Gambaccini said he had been waiting 30 years for the allegations to come out.

He alleged that at one point Saville was about to be exposed by a tabloid newspaper, but arranged an interview with a rival tabloid which had the effect of stopping the negative article.

Gambaccini went on: “On another occasion, and this cuts to the chase of the whole matter, he was called and he said 'well you could run that story, but if you do there goes the funds that come in to Stoke Mandeville - do you want to be responsible for the drying up of the charity donations'. And they backed down.”

Savile had raised millions of pounds over the years for his pet cause, Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Gambaccini added: “It comes out when he's dead because Jimmy Savile had an imperial personality in show business; I'm not talking about personal life. You just didn't mess with Jim. He was the governor, because after all he had been the first great club DJ, he had been the originator of Top of the Pops presentation, and you just let him have his turf. And none of us were interested in going there because he was away from us. At social occasions we would all be together, but Jim would not be and he had his own life.”