Savile's hospital victims

It's been revealed that nearly half of Jimmy Savile's victims in West Yorkshire - including three who were just five years old at the time - were abused in local hospitals. As Martin Fisher reports the majority of cases were at Leeds General Infirmary where Savile volunteered as a porter.

Almost half of Jimmy Savile's victims in his home county of West Yorkshire were abused in hospitals, according to figures.

A West Yorkshire Police report into the disgraced broadcaster's relationship with the force confirmed officers had identified 68 victims in the force area since his death.

Now the force has released a further breakdown which reveals 29 were abused in hospitals across the region - 23 of them at Leeds General Hospital (LGI).

The youngest abuse victim at LGI was just five, police said.

Savile had a close relationship with the LGI, famously volunteering as a porter and raising cash for the hospital over decades.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs LGI and St James's, is part way through an investigation into Savile's activities.

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust says it is investigating claims that Jimmy Savile abused people at hospitals in Leeds. The investigation team has its own website with information about how witnesses can get in touch.

West Yorkshire Police has confirmed that some of the 68 victims who have contacted them since the death of Jimmy Savile were aged as young as five when the alleged abuse took place.

Officers are investigating complaints that the TV presenter abused patients at hospitals across Yorkshire, with the victims ranging in ages from five to forty five when the crimes were committed.

West Yorkshire Police says officers are currently aware of 76 crimes involving 68 victims committed in the West Yorkshire area relating to Jimmy Savile. None of these crimes were previously reported to West Yorkshire Police before Savile's death.

Victims have reported offences which have taken place in hospitals:

• The main location of these offences was Leeds General Infirmary with complaints from 23 victims ranging from aged five to 34.
• Two victims aged five to 12 reported offences at St James Hospital in Leeds.
• One victim is unsure whether it was St James or the LGI due to the passage of time.

• One victim, who was aged 15 at the time of the offence, was at Dewsbury and District Hospital.
• Two victims aged five and 45 were at High Royds Hospital.

• In some cases it's not been possible to ascertain the age at the time of the offence as there are some offences where victims haven't provided a date of birth.

West Yorkshire Police says it did not intend to mislead anybody about the number of Jimmy Savile's youngest victims in a report it published on Friday.

The 59 page report said that Savile's youngest victim was only five years old but did not state that he allegedly abused four children of that age. The force says the investigation into Savile's activities is an ongoing process and the figures could change again if other victims come forward.

In a report, published at six o'clock this morning, West Yorkshire Police says it didn't have one single allegation against Savile on file before he died. Now 68 victims, one just five years old when they were abused, have come forward in West Yorkshire.

Police chiefs have admitted that mistakes were made in sharing information about the entertainer but no evidence of any police misconduct exists.

Chris Kiddey reports.

Jimmy Savile was not shielded from prosecution by his friendships with officers in West Yorkshire Police according to a report published by the force today. Police do admit that mistakes were made in not sharing information on Savile whose crimes didn't come to light until after his death.

A solicitor who represents over 40 of Jimmy Savile's victims has told Daybreak that West Yorkshire Police's report on the broadcaster's relationship with the force provides "some answers" but it "doesn't add up" and "begs a lot more questions."

He said: "It seems to me that West Yorkshire Police over the years failed to join up the dots, they had intelligence but something wasn't right."

"Against that background they were using Savile for crime preventions and so on, so they were giving Savile this aura of responsibility again and again, actually by West Yorkshire Police," he added.

West Yorkshire Police's report into its involvement with Jimmy Savile has said it was "concerning" that he was still being used for police campaigns after allegations were made in 2007