Yet it is OK for the police to brand Savile as one of the most prolific sex offenders in history when he has never been found guilty of anything in a court. They had their chance over a number of decades when he was alive and botched it up, either deliberately or through sheer incompetence. Easy target when you're dead. It doesn't matter how much we may perceive that Savile was in fact what the police say, to my mind it is quite wrong that they are able to make such a pronouncement about a dead man. If they made statements like this about a suspect who was alive they would be open to substantial civil action, which is probably the concern and reason for the reticence about naming the individual who is the subject of recent comments on this thread.
This doesn't mean that I either think Savile did, or did not do, these alleged things. We all have our own opinions based on the information that is available to us. What it means is that I don't think that the police should have the right to make such a pronouncement on his guilt of innocence. They actually have no more right to make such a public statement than any citizen of the country. Guilt or innocence should only be decided through the processes of the judicial system. Who knows? If Savile had appeared in court and been tried for even a fraction of the alleged crimes that he committed, he may have been jailed, but it should not be up to the police to circumvent this process and publicly state that he is guilty, or at least offer the obvious opinion that they think he is guilty. Their function is to investigate complaints and present the evidence to a court of law through the prosecuting authorities.
If Harold Shipman had hanged himself before he went to court he would have gone to his grave as an innocent man, and we would not be able to say that he was the most prolific serial murderer in British history.
It is not a good development for the citizens of any country when the police are acting as judge and jury. That is the function of the judicial system, and that function also covers the curtailing of the activities of an over-zealous police force. The police have a multitude of functions in this country, but fortunately for all of us, the decision of guilt or innocence is outwith their remit.