Letter to Jeremy Hunt 11 November 2014 post rejection of my claim as advised by Slater Gordon which simply said, my claim has been rejected by the DOH and there is nothing more we can do.

11 November 2014

FAO Jeremy Hunt MP

2 Royal Parade

Tilford Road

Hindhead

Surrey

GU26 6TD

Dear Jeremy

Historical child abuse from the perspective of the victim

I am writing to you in your capacity as Secretary of State for Health regarding historical sex abuse by Jimmy Savile at NHS properties in Leeds, I understand you are currently presiding over the enquiries being conducted by the NHS in this matter and feel you should be made aware of the difficulties I have encountered at the hands of the police, the NHS and Slater Gordon LLC in their handling of my case.

With another major enquiry about to start (when a suitable chairperson can be found) I hope this will help you (and other ministers) to ensure procedures are changed in order to handle future victims who are brave enough to come forward.

This letter is strictly confidential

My family are unaware I am a victim, I have set up a confidential email address for all communications about this matter, see top of page.

My story starts as a child born and raised in Headingly, Leeds. I am the oldest of 5 children. My mother (prior to marrying my father) received high grades in education and went on to work at the WIRA where she was part of a Nobel Prize winning team for the discovery of Chromatography. She gave up her career upon marrying and we lived of my father’s income as a sign writer, we had no car, no radio, no television, no carpets lived in a home heated by coal fires and were raised as strict fundamental Evangelical Christians, I converted to Christianity at a televised Billy Graham rally held on Woodhouse Moor aged 11. I received no sexual education from my parents or my school.

When I was 12 years old my sister REDACTED had problems with poor balance and fell over all the time, I used to have to support her often and we became very close, the condition was so serious that she was constantly in and out of the Leeds General Infirmary for tests and x‐rays to try to get to the bottom of the issue. It turned out she had a growth on her spine which was finally removed when she was 15, the operation was as serious as a heart transplant and the lump removed was the size of a man’s fist.

When I was eleven/twelve years old in 1971/2 whilst REDACTED was nine/ten years old and an in‐patient at the LGI, I went to visit her with my parents, the doctors took my parent off to discuss REDACTED’s condition and we were left together on the ward with the privacy curtains drawn around her bed, suddenly a tall man with white hair entered the bedside area wearing a hospital white gown and with a stethoscope around his neck, he started to joke around and pretended to take my sister’s pulse and temperature, he then climbed onto the bed and put his arm around my sister, neither of us knew who he was but as he had bare legs and gold shoes we figured he was not a doctor.

The man offered us chicken from a bag he had with him, the chicken was delicious and we asked where he had got it from, the man replied the Kentucky Fried Chicken shop in Headingly, I said I knew where the KFC shop was because my paper round newsagent was on the same parade, it was as I recall the best thing I had ever tasted and we both said this to him, the man offered to buy chicken for us if we would meet him at the KFC shop.

As the man was a stranger we both declined his offer, he then tried to encourage me to go with him to see where the nurses lived at the hospital and showed me a key he claimed was for their apartments, again as I had been cautioned not to go with strangers, I declined, the man then said if I met him that same evening at KFC he would buy me chicken and have a surprise for me, and touched his nose and gesturing with his eyes indicating I would like the surprise.

My parents then arrived with several doctors and nurses who all new the man as Jimmy Saville, he jumped off the bed, put his arm around two of the nurses and introduced himself to my parents.

Whilst the team talked to REDACTED, Savile said “don’t forget this evening”. The stranger danger in my mind had been reduced because he knew all the nurses, doctors and now my parents and I decided to meet him after my paper round.

I met Savile later that day after my paper round, he was wearing a gold jacket and shorts with gold shoes, and he bought chicken giving me his cigar to hold whilst he paid. As we left it started to rain and he said let’s eat in my car where I have a surprise for you, I agreed and we went to his car which was parked nearby.

When we arrived he opened the back door, climbed inside and I followed, to my surprise there was a young girl already in the back of the car, Savile told me to share the chicken and I opened the box, there were two pieces inside, one large and one small, I offered the chicken to the girl first by reaching over Savile, I was upset that she took the large piece.

As I finished the chicken I looked over and could see Savile had pulled up the girls skirt and had his hand inside her knickers, I became aroused by this and suddenly Savile pushed his other hand down the front of my trousers to touch my penis, he than persuaded me to kneel on the floor and slid my trousers down. Savile than masturbated me whilst still having his other hand in the girls knickers, after a few minutes Savile took my penis in his mouth as I ejaculated, he then leaned over and kissed the girl (much to her disgust). Shortly afterwards I got out of the car and left Savile with the girl.

This episode had excited and revolted me in almost equal measures, I had thoroughly enjoyed my sexual awakening but was more than aware of the homosexual nature of the sex act I had participated in and this was in conflict with my religious upbringing which dictates that homosexuality is a sin.

I determined I would like to meet with Savile again to see if the episode could be repeated, I used to hang around outside KFC after my paper round each day. One day I did meet him again, we talked and he took me to his car. This time we drove to a large complex of buildings where he parked and told me to wait, the building closest was unusual in that it had arched topped windows and two doors next to each other with matching arched tops side by side, this building was alongside a terraced block which looked like brick terrace houses typical of Leeds area. Savile returned and had the same girl with him, he and the girl climbed into the back of the car with me, this time the girl was wearing a hospital issue nighty (which I recognised as I had seen my sister wear the same) under her red coat, we did not have chicken this time but we repeated the previous sex act with one slight change, Savile took my hand and put it inside the girls knickers for a few minutes.

After the sex concluded, Savile took the girl back to where he had collected her whilst I waited in the car, he then returned and offered to take me home, he drove up the main road through Woodhouse towards Headingly and I asked him to stop at Richmond Road where I lived, he drove into the church car park and let me out of the car.

He then called me back and suddenly his demeanour changed, I cannot remember what he said but I was left in no uncertain terms that I should not contact him again and the experience would not be repeated, I was also aware of threats he made should I tell anyone.

The thing which struck me most afterwards was the way in which the girl had behaved, she did not look at me and did not speak which I found odd.

Sometime later during one of the many out‐patient visits to the LGI REDACTED required I went with her and my parents, the doctors wanted to examine my sister and I was asked to leave the room, my parents said they would meet me in the entrance to the hospital and I went to find it, to reach the exit I needed to use the lift and then met Savile again, this time he was wearing the same long white surgical coat but was pushing a trolley with a patient on it, he saw me and we immediately recognised each other. I cannot remember what he said, but he remembered who I was, he was friendly which I was surprised at because of the threats after our previous meeting.

We arrived at a lift and went inside, the doors closed and to my surprise Savile lifted the sheet covering the patient who was a woman about the same age as my mother, he started to kiss the woman and touch her breasts, he looked up at me and said something like “I love them like this because they don’t complain”, I was shocked because the woman on the trolley was dead. Savile asked me to join in but I was revolted and looked away, when he was finished he moved his head away and I could see the woman’s mouth was open, he shut it with his hand, he then re‐covered the body and I helped him push the trolley, I do not know where we went but with hindsight I now believe it must have been the mortuary.

Staff were waiting for Savile and the trolley, they spoke with Savile briefly and then we left together. I had become disorientated and did not know the way back to the hospital entrance, Savile offered to show me the way and we walked in silence to the front entrance of the hospital.  Savile suddenly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me around the corner and into a small stairwell and lift area tucked away, he said “you have enjoyed all of this haven’t you?” and went on to say I must never tell anyone, with that he grabbed my left testicle and squeezed it tightly, I felt I was about to pass out with the pain and despite trying I could not scream, he let go and I could not stand, I fell to the floor in agony whilst he walked away.

I finally made it to the entrance where my parents were waiting. It was obvious something had happened. I told them I had met a boy from school renowned for being a bully and that he had kicked me in the groin. I then had to walk home in pain.

Sometime during all this I witnessed a neighbour touch his daughter under the dining room table in my home, he put his hand inside her nickers, this aroused me and I had to leave the room to deal with my erection.

Effect of the abuse

The injury caused by Savile caused me to pass blood and clots in my urine for some time afterwards and caused me considerable pain and suffering. The house I grew up in was terraced and had no central heating, as children was used hot water bottles to keep warm and help us to go to sleep, it was common for all the hot water bottles to be in use by my bedtime, I would look through my brothers and sisters beds to find one for myself.

During one search I noticed my sister REDACTED had masturbated herself to sleep and still had her hand inside her knickers, this quickly aroused me and I left to masturbate, I repeated this “hot water bottle search” a number of times over the next few years to re capture the experience I had encountered with Savile, occasionally she would wake and ask what I was doing, but she seemed to always accept I was looking for a hot water bottle.

The injury caused by savile caused me to suffer pain and bleeding after I ejaculated for many years. I could not tell anyone because I was frightened of Savile’s threats, concerned as to what my parents would think, I thought I had broken the law by my actions with the young girl and my sister, by know I was aware of Savile’s celebrity and did not think that anyone would believe my story. The pain and suffering after sex continued after I met my first girlfriend (now my wife), I believed I was being punished for my behaviour with Savile and my sister as I my religion taught that homosexuality and incest were sins. This marred our sexual relationship which should have been an enjoyable experience.

In 1900/1991 when I was aged 31 I started to suffer severe backache and shooting pains in my left testicle, I visited my GP who asked how long my left testicle had been larger than the other to which I lied as I did not want to discuss the encounter with Savile and said all my life. Over the following months I lost 3 stones weight, went into kidney and liver failure, could not hold down solid food, was mis‐diagnosed as a hepatitis C patient and eventually admitted to hospital, I had developed a mass of cancerous tumours in my abdomen and a fast growing lump in my throat, this turned out to be testicular cancer of the left testis which had been mis‐diagnosed as a direct result of the injury and embarrassment caused by Savile, I had to take a year off work to receive chemotherapy which caused significant losses to my business and put significant financial hardship on my family.

At the age of 31 whilst suffering with un‐diagnosed cancer, the pains in my groin were so bad it meant I could not have sexual intercourse, this period of abstention lasted about 2 years (1 year to reach diagnosis and a further year of treatment followed by painful surgery to remove my left testicle).

Despite being advised that the chemotherapy and surgery would sterilise me, within 2 years we had two further children, after the second unexpected child we decided that I could not face any further surgery or hospital treatment to be sterilised, for various reasons contraception was not an option, my wife and I decided to abstain until after the menopause.

About 18 years ago I was accused by one of my sisters (not REDACTED) of having sexually abused her as a young child. These allegations are untrue and followed her having received a form of unregulated regression therapy. It is my belief that my sister fantasised the story based upon tales from REDACTED about my hot water bottle search incidents and in order to explain her life which is a disaster.

Her own daughters were given far too much sex education from far too young an age and could not cope with the information. She is divorced for multiple infidelities. Both her daughters had children under 16 and now work in the sex industry. These accusations only came to light about 9 years ago when my daughter visited my mother and complained of being sore between her legs. My mother decided that my sister’s stories must be true and wrote an anonymous letter to my daughter’s primary school accusing me of sexually assaulting her. This resulted in an investigation by social services which found no case to answer.

I was forced to sever all communications with my parents meaning my children have grown up without grandparents.

These allegations have had an effect on my sex life, despite my wife passing the menopause several years ago, we have not re started our sexual relationship and (my fault not hers) I am struggling to discuss this because it could lead to the whole story coming out and I do not wish my family to be aware I was a victim.

In 2003 I started a new company with some friends who were experts in marketing and IT, I financed the start‐up and development of an electronic tagging system to be used to protect valuable assets within buildings, this developed to protecting new born babies in post natal care and our system was adopted by several NHS hospitals. One day, after I had worked part time on the project without drawing a salary for over 4 years, I told the story of my mother writing the letter to my daughter’s school, within weeks my fellow directors and former friends decided to take the company from me.

Whilst I was in hospital for a routing operation, they changed the signatories at the bank, then within 3 months bankrupted the company, placed it with an administrator and bought it back from the bank thereby removing me as a director and shareholder. As a result I lost my investment, the intellectual property and all future potential revenues and benefits along with my savings.

Against the advice of my doctors I was now forced to take a high paying stressful employment role to try to recover my family income, this would prove to be a mistake as due to the stress I suffered from Bells palsy (and have not recovered) and a major heart attack which placed me in intensive care for several days and forced me not to work for almost a year, once again placing financial stress on my family.

Report of abuse

On 12 October 2012 I saw on the news that Savile’s relatives had erected a large gravestone with the words he had asked to be carved upon it which read “It was good whilst it lasted”, this so enraged me that I made up an excuse, left the house and went to Weetwood police station in Leeds to report my story. I believe I was in the first 30 victims to come forward.

The initial police interview was conducted by an officer who was dressed and behaved in a way which would be appropriate for dealing with drunken rebels in a city centre, rather than to listen to my story of historic child sex abuse. The officer was over 6 feet tall, wearing a high visibility jacket, stab vest, communication radio and utility belt containing handcuffs, fighting stick, mace etc.

During the interview his radio and mobile telephone repeatedly interrupted our discussion and he repeatedly left me locked in a room alone whilst he took calls and made enquiries. At a critical moment he was interrupted by another officer not wearing a uniform who asked him to suspend the interview, I was left in a locked room for 25 minutes contemplating the fact that I had just told a police officer I had willingly sought out Savile for sexual encounters with underage girls, that as a result of my sexual awakening at the hands of Savile I had committed acts of incest with my sister which I knew to be wrong, I was convinced the police were about to arrest me upon their return.

I felt I had dug myself into a hole, I have learnt in life that when you find yourself in a hole, it is best to stop digging.

Upon their return I was asked abruptly if I had anything further to say, at this time I was aware that I had witnessed Savile abuse a corpse and that he had caused a grievous injury to me as a warning not to tell, I was also aware that Savile had taken my penis into his mouth which I had enjoyed despite my religious upbringing, however I was convinced I was about to be arrested and I replied no.

The senior police officer not in uniform then leaned forwards across the table, in what I can only describe as a threatening tone, he asked me again if I had anything further to add to my statement warning me that it was better to tell the full story right away, I said I had nothing further to say. I was then advised that they had checked my police record which was completely clear, that the Met police were taking over the whole investigation under the name operation yewtree, that the number of people coming forward was large.

I was then advised I was not going to be arrested at this time, all the information I had provided was to be forwarded to the Met and I would hear from them in due course. I was then advised that the Met police would in due course take my formal witness statement and determine what actions were to be taken.

I was allowed to leave the police station but was very concerned that I would be arrested and charged by the police based upon what I had said, I was concerned that a few scribbled notes were all that had been taken during the interview, so to the best of my recollection I wrote down what I had described to the police to help me recall the interview.

On 16 October 2012 as a direct result of having seen Liz Dux of Slater Gordon LLC appear on the news in a piece about Savile, she was championing the victims, defending their bravery in finally telling their horrific stories and stating she would use her vast experience of dealing with child abuse cases to ensure their voices which had been suppressed for so long were heard, I telephoned her and she took me on as a client of Slater Gordon LLC, I mailed her my notes of the police interview with a covering letter advising, “This letter is from memory and contains all the information I can recall that I provided. The police took notes of my conversation to pass on to the Met but did not take a formal statement or ask me to sign anything“.

I expected the Met police to contact me within days to take my full statement or arrest me. I could not stop thinking about the parts of my story I had not yet told due to the way the police had handled the interview, in addition, I could not stop thinking if there was any way I could provide any further facts, I decided to drive to the LGI and St James’s in Leeds and have a look around to see if I could pinpoint any of the locations and I found that St James’s chapel was the building where Savile parked his car on our second encounter, I also found the small stairwell and lift shaft where the assault took place at the LGI, the ground floor has been altered to bring this stairwell and lift into the reception area now, but if you go up (or down) one floor it is similar enough for me to be sure this was where Savile assaulted me.

I expected Slater Gordon to represent me during any future police interview and intended to tell the full story in a properly conducted interview. What felt like a long time passed and believing I was now represented, I wrote an amended statement and emailed it to Slater Gordon on 21 November 2012. They forwarded this to the Met police. This statement contained the full horror of my having witnessed Savile with a dead body and the assault on my person by Savile along with the locations I had rediscovered. I omitted a single detail, this was the fact that Savile took my penis into his mouth when I ejaculated, I chose to omit this small detail because of embarrassment and the conflict with my religious upbringing.

I received a reply from the police stating “My advice is to retain your written record for use when you are contacted by an officer who may require a formal evidential statement.” And “I know that the Met are not requesting formal victim statements from every victim and the West Yorkshire approach may well be similar given the investigation is being overseen by the Met. This doesn't mean that all issues wont (SIC) be properly recorded in some format by ourselves but you will receive contact at some point in the near future and at that stage it would be appropriate to tell the contacting officer you have your report and to explain the circumstances you have recorded”.

I received a date to attend Weetwood police station in Leeds on 18 December 2012. I contacted Slater Gordon who would not attend the meeting stating they were not permitted to, so I was left on my own to return to the same police station I had originally visited where I was in fear of being arrested for what I was stating. I had no option other than to attend and upon arrival I was advised that the revised copy of my statement I had emailed would be used as the basis of my formal police statement, it is difficult to express how I felt, however the words, frightened, lost and abandoned come close.

This time however the interview was more professional, the officer had read my account I had sent on 21 November 2012 and he had prepared a hand written witness statement in order for me to read and sign. The statement he had prepared neglected to include my allegations of my neighbour and his daughter and excluded the consequences of the abuse, the officer said they were not investigating my former neighbour and that the consequences were of no interest to their enquiry.

The officer explained that I was a child at the time so it was not their intention to charge me with incest, underage sexual contact with a minor or failing to notify the police of Savile’s actions with the dead body. He advised that West Yorkshire police (operation yewtree) had recorded 4 crimes committed by Savile as a direct result of my statement, two of sex with a minor, one of actual bodily harm and one of committing a lewd act in a public place.

Slater Gordon needed to interview me and take their own statement, this had to be held in a public house as Slater Gordon have no access to offices in the north of England and was cut short by the pub closing at 15:00, however I believe this meeting produced a good outcome and a statement I was happy with.

I received a request to meet the NHS JS investigation team comprising Claire Jones and Ray Galloway at the LGI on 23 May 2013 which I agreed to, I expected Slater Gordon to be present and was surprised when they were not there. I advised Slater Gordon the same day that I was disappointed they were not present, again they advised they were not allowed to attend? I further advised that I had found the NHS enquiry team interview to be confrontational and in my opinion a damage limitation exercise.

I wrote to Slater Gordon “I was surprised at the level to which my statement was challenged in this meeting, some of the meeting was recorded and I should receive a transcript in due course. I was under the impression prior to the meeting that I was volunteering to help the hospital to better understand how Savile had behaved and how he had got away with his behaviour whilst in a position of trust, I now feel that I have been unwittingly involved in a damage limitation exercise by the hospital with no solicitor present, during which my statement has been called into question and disbelieved”.

I advised Slater Gordon that “I was challenged when I described the encounter with Savile at LGI when he was pushing a trolley with a patient and asked me to help, in my statement I describe Savile kissing and fondling the women on the trolley who I believed was dead. The team described my statement as unbelievable and asked Claire to explain the procedures in place in all hospitals which are strictly adhered to in respect of the way a corpse is prepared prior to being transported by trolley, these included sealing the body into a shroud, placing it into a special container and always having two persons accompanying the body during moving it. The team challenged my statement as "highly unlikely" on the grounds that Savile would not have had access to a corpse in the way I described and the team seemed to take an attitude towards dismissing my account. I asked if it was a possibility that these procedures had not been adhered to on this occasion, this suggestion was dismissed out of hand, I explored other possibilities of how Savile may have had access such as a corpse arriving by ambulance into A&E or that maybe the rules were different in 1971/2 but these suggestions were robustly refuted”.

During an unrecorded part of the interview with the LGI enquiry team, I advised them of the difficult circumstances of my initial police interview, I advised that I had been so scared by the way the interview was handled that I had not felt able to disclose the full story, I advised that after I had spoken to and employed Slater Gordon I felt I was able to release the amended statement which had been used as the basis of my statements for both the police and Slater Gordon and I provided a copy of the Slater Gordon statement to the enquiry team which forms the bulk of my statement they recorded.

The LGI enquiry team expressed concerns to Slater Gordon about the differences between the police statement and the Slater Gordon statement however when I eventually received copies of my police statement, my Slater Gordon statement and my LGI enquiry team statement I was unable to find any significant differences (other than the police choosing not to record the future consequences of the abuse in their version). I asked Slater Gordon to read all three and advise why the LGI team were so concerned, I have not been advised by Slater Gordon about the outcome of this requested (and agreed) action.

I was somewhat relieved by the stance of the LGI investigation team that the incident I witnessed with a dead woman could not have happened, I was able to reconcile this in my mind that I must have been mistaken.

Outcome

Try to imagine how I felt when the news in 2014 reported the fact that Savile had an unhealthy interest in the dead, had enjoyed unrestricted access to the morgue where it is believed he had sex with corpses, had crafted jewellery out of glass eyes removed from the morgue and pushed dead bodies taken from the morgue around the hospital, this was the final straw requiring me to seek urgent psychiatric help as I find I cannot stop thinking about the problems I have experienced as a direct result of the abuse by Savile.

The LGI enquiry team had offered to provide psychiatric care during the meeting and I had accepted their offer, however no appointment for this promised care has been received at the time the report was published in 2014. As a result I was forced to arrange an appointment with my GP, telling my story to him and subsequently starting to receive treatment by the Leeds mental health team.

I wrote to Slater Gordon on 13 August 2014 and advised them that in the relaxed and caring environment of the investigative meeting with the Leeds mental care team, I finally felt able to discuss the fact that I had enjoyed Savile taking my penis into his mouth, despite my religious upbringing as an evangelical Christian. I requested they notify the NHS of this new fact which they were reluctant to do and delayed in providing an addition to my statement for me to sign, I understand they finally passed this on to the NHS on or around 15 October.

On 03 November I received a letter from Slater Gordon advising that my application had been submitted under the terms of the NHS settlement scheme and it had now been considered. It advised that my application for compensation has been rejected by the NHS and that it was Slater Gordons belief that this was because of the changes in my statement.

To date as far as I can see, the only change to my statement has been the answer to a question I was repeatedly asked by the police, Slater Gordon and the NHS enquiry team. What happened to my sperm when I ejaculated?

I am further surprised that my story was rejected by the NHS as I stated I had witnessed Savile assault a dead woman. As far as I am aware the fact that Savile had an unhealthy interest in the dead was not known by the public until the release of the NHS report in 2014.

I did not take Liz Dux (Slater Gordon) for a no win no fee ambulance chasing type however the content of her letter which advises that my application for compensation has been rejected by the NHS and that the only course of action I can now take is litigation, furthermore she says she can now no longer continue to represent me because in her opinion the balance of probabilities of success is below 50%, in my mind places her into the same category as all the other accident and injury no win no fee solicitors in my opinion.

For clarification, in coming forward to tell my story I have achieved my main objective. This was to see Savile’s reputation as a family favourite, popular and well‐loved TV and radio star, close friends with prime minister’s, royalty and police, who had the audacity to have the words “it was good while it lasted” engraved on his tombstone, brought down to the level it now stands and in my opinion as a victim, where it deserves to be.

It has always been my intention to donate any funds received as compensation to assist charities who work in the area of child sex abuse victim support, the NHS in reaching rejecting my claim have denied these charities much needed funds.

I have asked Slater Gordon to take one final action on my account and make an appointment with the NHS settlement scheme panel for me to discuss face to face with the people who have rejected my case their reasons for doing so.

I shall be forwarding a copy of my file to the newly appointed historical child sex abuse enquiry (once a satisfactory chair person is elected) to make them aware just how victims are treated when they finally come forward, in the hope that lessons may be learned and to help improve the way in which future victims are received.

Signed

Redacted