Savile told hospital employees he performed sex acts on corpses in Leeds mortuary

Jimmy Savile was explained to have been best pals with the chief mortician of Leeds basic infirmary. Photograph: Ray Tang /Rex

Jimmy Savile advised hospital workers he interfered with patients’ corpses, taking grotesque images and stealing glass eyes for jewellery, above two decades at the mortuary of Leeds general infirmary.

The late Top of the Pops presenter had free of charge access to the mortuary from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, an official investigation has identified, concluding that Savile’s interest in the deceased was “not within accepted boundaries”.

One particular former Broadmoor nurse informed investigators that Savile claimed to have performed intercourse acts on bodies and “mucked about” in the mortuary, posing in pictures with the deceased following placing them in lewd positions.

The former nurse explained: “He [Savile] was saying that they utilised to put the bodies collectively, male and female, and he also mentioned that they took photographs and also that he received involved in some of the photographs … I was a little bit upset due to the fact I had no idea, in people days, of necrophilia. A number of of the Broadmoor individuals would have been diagnosed with that, but I didn’t entirely realize what it meant, and partway by means of I just wandered off.

“[Savile] talked about gamaroosh … It indicates oral sex … that he [Savile], he would go down on them and gamaroosh and muck about.”

Separately, the independent investigation was told that Savile had removed glass eyes from the bodies and employed them as jewellery.

One witness mentioned: “I looked at his hands and he had these gross, large silver rings with bulbous issues and I sort of went, ‘Yes, mm,’ always be polite to your superstar, ‘Yes, Jim.’ And he explained: ‘D’you know what they are? They are glass eyes from dead bodies in Leeds mortuary exactly where I perform and I enjoy functioning there, and I wheel the dead bodies all around at evening and I really like that.’”

Savile was mentioned to have been very best friends with the chief mortician of Leeds standard infirmary, who is now dead, and had regular unsupervised access to the mortuary from the late 70s until the mid-90s.

The investigation, published by the Department of Health, established that Savile had publicly disclosed his interest in the dead, that he was close friends with the chief mortician, and that there was a lack of stringent procedures concerning accessibility to the mortuary till the late 80s at the earliest.

It concluded: “In light of the claims about the glass eye jewellery and Savile’s interference with the bodies of the deceased, it is evident his curiosity in the mortuary was not inside of accepted boundaries.”

A Residence Office pathologist confirmed to the inquiry that it would have been feasible for Savile to pose with the bodies before the rigor mortis stage, a chemical change which brings about a corpse’s limbs to grow to be stiff.

Dr Jennifer Bolton advised the investigators: “A degree of posing would be feasible with some assistance of the body in the pre-rigor mortis phase and by the straightforward laying of one entire body on top of yet another when rigor mortis was fully established.

“It would be possible to manipulate the body to some extent alone by exploiting the results of rigor mortis but it would be far more effortlessly attained if more than one individual was involved.”

• Any individual needing assistance should get in touch with the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) on 0808 801 0331

Savile told hospital employees he performed sex acts on corpses in Leeds mortuary