TV star, who played Albert Steptoe in the BBC show, named following the scandal engulfing the corporation over abuse carried out by Jimmy Savile
By Rosie Taylor, Lucy Osborne and Arthur Martin
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Steptoe and Son actor Wilfrid Brambell last night became the latest BBC star accused of child sex abuse.
Two men claimed the late actor molested them when they were children in Jersey in the early 1970s.
He was named following the scandal engulfing the corporation over the reign of abuse carried out by Jimmy Savile.
Allegations: Wilfred Brambell, pictured in 1971, has been accused of abusing two young boys in Jersey
One of the boys lived at the infamous Haut de la Garenne children’s home, the focus of a major Channel Islands police investigation into child abuse.
He said he was taken to the Opera House, Jersey’s main theatre, as a ‘treat’ before meeting Brambell backstage where he was molested.
TV star: Wilfrid Brambell, pictured right as
Albert Steptoe, starred alongside Harry H Corbett as Harold Steptoe in
the popular BBC comedy
Old classic: The boys were taken to meet Wilfrid
Brambell, pictured with Harry H Corbett and Carolyn Seymour in Steptoe
and Son, as a 'treat'
He told the Mail: ‘In Jersey everyone covers each other’s backs when it comes to the child abuse situation.
‘The two boys came to me about Brambell because they did not trust the police. They came to me and told me they were sexually abused by him.
‘They were both around the ages of 11, 12 or 13 and didn’t know each other so I am sure they were telling the truth.
‘They said the abuse happened in the back rooms of the Jersey Opera House – behind the stage. One of them was a resident at the Haut de la Garenne at the time.’
Brambell, who died of cancer in 1985, was gay, although he had been married briefly in the 1950s.
He had a criminal record after being arrested in 1962 for soliciting in a public toilet in Shepherd’s Bush, London, and battled alcoholism in his later life.
The Dublin-born actor became a household name in the 1960s and 1970s playing a rag and bone man in Steptoe and Son.
His co-star, Harry H Corbett, constantly derided him on the sitcom as ‘you dirty old man’. Brambell also appeared as Paul McCartney’s grandfather in the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night in 1964.
Scandal: Jimmy Savile, pictured in 2000, allegedly abused children over four decades
JOHN SIMPSON ACCUSES CHILDREN'S PRESENTER
BBC bosses are said to have hushed up the alleged molestation of young boys by a children’s radio star.
It is claimed they wrote to any parents who complained advising them not to take the allegations further.
The name has been passed to police examining allegations against Jimmy Savile.
The alleged abuse was first raised in BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson’s autobiography in 1999.
He said he was told of it when compiling the obituary of the man, whom he gave the pseudonym ‘Uncle Dick’,
shortly after his death in 1967.
Simpson claimed his immediate boss told him to keep it secret.
But last night thousands could see his name on Twitter, after users followed the clues given by Simpson.
The man’s daughters and grandchildren said yesterday that the claims were ‘complete rubbish’.
It is claimed they wrote to any parents who complained advising them not to take the allegations further.
The alleged abuse was first raised in BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson’s autobiography in 1999.
He said he was told of it when compiling the obituary of the man, whom he gave the pseudonym ‘Uncle Dick’,
shortly after his death in 1967.
Simpson claimed his immediate boss told him to keep it secret.
But last night thousands could see his name on Twitter, after users followed the clues given by Simpson.
The man’s daughters and grandchildren said yesterday that the claims were ‘complete rubbish’.
It will be run by the Department of Health itself, raising fears it cannot be truly independent.
Former barrister Kate Lampard will oversee the investigation to provide ‘independent oversight’.
It will examine why the presenter was given the keys to Broadmoor mental hospital, a bedroom at Stoke Mandeville and free rein at Leeds General Infirmary.
He allegedly raped and molested young victims for decades without anyone stopping him.
There are suspicions a blind eye was turned to the abuse because the hospitals reaped millions of pounds through Savile’s fundraising.
Labour is still calling for a full independent inquiry into the scandal.
Deputy leader Harriet Harman said: ‘I think what we need to do is get to the truth. Clearly something terrible went on for many years across a number of institutions and I think we need to learn the lessons.’
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘[Kate Lampard] will provide oversight of the Stoke Mandeville, Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor inquiries as well as the Department of Health’s inquiries into the appointment and role Savile held at Broadmoor Hospital.
‘All relevant information from these inquiries will be passed to the police.’
Unlike the BBC, which has issued several grovelling apologies, none of the hospitals has yet said sorry for the abuse.
Savile, who raised £40million for Broadmoor, boasted that he ‘lived’ in a bedroom managers had given him at Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, and said he could do as he pleased.
Tory MP Rob Wilson, an aide to the Health Secretary, has questioned whether Savile’s fundraising ‘made him untouchable’ at the hospital. He demanded an independent inquiry ‘so we understand who knew what and when they knew it’.
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