Savile case: '300 alleged victims'

Police investigating the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal are dealing with around 300 alleged victims, Scotland Yard has revealed.

Commander Peter Spindler said officers are following more than 400 lines of inquiry linked to the victims, of whom all except two are women.

He said investigators have so far spoken to 130 people who have come forward, and 114 allegations of crime have emerged.

He told reporters that most of the allegations are linked to Savile, but some involve others who may have acted with him.

Nobody has yet been arrested or interviewed under caution as yet, but the force is "preparing an arrest strategy".

The Commander said: "There's Savile on his own, and that's the vast majority of what we're being told about, there's Savile and others. And it's the others, if they're living, we can look at them. Then there is a third category which is 'others'."

Praising victims for their courage in coming forward, he encouraged anyone else who is wondering whether to speak out to do so.

He said Savile was "undoubtedly" one of the most prolific sex offenders of recent history and that the weight of evidence against the late DJ was overwhelming.

Allegations reported that doctors in hospitals had been involved in abuse "hadn't come through to us at the moment", he added.

Meanwhile, a solicitor acting on behalf of victims of Savile has launched claims against the late celebrity's estate on behalf of clients.