Jimmy Savile's DJ friend Ray Teret guilty of historical sex offences

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Ray Teret, seen here with the Beatles, abused his celebrity status as a pirate DJ to prey on his victims. Credit: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire

A DJ friend of Jimmy Savile has been convicted of a catalogue of historical sex offences against young girls.

Ex-Radio Caroline DJ Ray Teret used his celebrity status in the Manchester club scene in the 1960s and 1970s to prey on many of his victims.

The 73-year-old denied 18 rapes, two other serious sexual assaults, one attempted rape, 12 indecent assaults and one count of indecency with a child.

After more 60 hours of deliberations, he was convicted of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults. He was cleared of the other charges.

Ray Teret was mentored by Savile in the early days of his career and was described as following him around Credit: ITV News

Teret, of Woodlands Road, Altrincham, had denied all the charges and told the jury he had no interest in underage girls, despite a previous conviction for sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl in 1999, which he continues to deny.

Teret first met Jimmy Savile as a teenager, when Savile was the dancehall manager of the Mecca-owned Plaza ballroom in the late 1950s and Teret won a £5 cash prize at a singing contest there.

They met again when Teret was working as a waiter at The Ritz ballroom, and he said Savile - remembering him as "the singer" - offered him a position as a trainee DJ at a new club he was opening in Broughton.

Teret denied in court being Jimmy Savile's chauffeur during the 1960s. Credit: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire

Initially, his training was to sit at the back for four hours and observe the four-hour events run by Savile - but within weeks he learned how to count the beats and how to keep people dancing.

During the trial, Teret denied being Savile's chauffeur or that they went on holiday together, and rejected claims he was in regular contact with the now-notorious sex offender from the mid-60s to the end of the 70s.

Teret first met Jimmy Savile in the late 1950s but played down their friendship during his trial. Credit: PA

Teret also denied ever appearing on Top of the Pops with Savile as his "friend". While he agreed that Savile had taught him the "nuts and bolts" of being a DJ, he said he only worked for him at Jimmy Savile's Disc Club in Manchester for eight months before going on to DJ at the Beat City cellar club in 1964.

A year after that, he began working at Radio Caroline on the station's North Ship, where he gained his 'Ugly Ray' nickname.

Teret became successful across the north west of England's Mecca ballrooms. Credit: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire

After a failed venture into selling clothing at a store called the Ugly Mug Boutique on the Isle on Man, he set up his own DJing business called The Disco Express with his father.

Giving evidence, Ray Teret told the prosecutor that men who pounced on a girl and hoped to get away with it Credit: PA

His fame grew as he won a series of contracts with Mecca ballrooms across the north west of England, and a female fan set up The International Ugly Club.

But the firm went out of business in 1975 when his Mecca contracts were cancelled following a management upheaval.