Public to pay as Savile’s victims seek millions

The victims of Jimmy Savile are likely to make hundreds of compensation claims in what could be the biggest action for child sex abuse in legal history. Actions are already being prepared against Savile’s £4.3 million estate as well as against the BBC and many of the hospitals, schools and other institutions where he is alleged to have committed his offences. The claims could lead to a bill of millions of pounds, much of it paid by the taxpayer if institutions are found liable for failures of supervision and other breaches of duties of care. Savile is said to have committed the assaults over more than 50 years, in schools, radio and television stations and 13 hospitals, including Great Ormond Street. Trevor Sterling, a solicitor with Russell Jones & Walker, which is acting for 55 alleged victims, said that claims would run in parallel both against Savile’s estate…