Jimmy Savile report: Timeline of sex abuse scandal

As detectives today revealed the full extent of Jimmy Savile's prolific predatory sex offending, here is how the case against the late TV presenter unfolded:

October 29 2011
Veteran DJ and broadcaster Savile is found dead in his home in Roundhay, Leeds, aged 84. His death came after a spell in hospital with a suspected bout of pneumonia.

September 30 2012
It emerges that allegations about Savile will be made in a new ITV documentary, due to be aired on October 3.

October 1
Surrey Police confirms Savile was interviewed in 2007 over allegations dating back to the 1970s but was released without charge.

October 2
An historic rape allegation made against Savile is referred to Scotland Yard. It is also revealed that Jersey and Surrey police both investigated accusations about alleged abuse in two children's homes, but decided there was not enough evidence to proceed.

The BBC says it will make direct contact with police to provide full support over the "disturbing allegations".

Newsnight editor Peter Rippon says the show dropped a story about allegations against Savile because it "had not established any institutional failure" on behalf of the police or Crown Prosecution Service. Mr Rippon writes on a BBC blog that it was "totally untrue" he came under any pressure to drop the story.

October 3

Sussex Police confirms that in 2008 a woman reported she had been indecently assaulted by Savile in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1970, but did not want to co-operate with any inquiry or prosecution.

Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile is shown on ITV1 at 11.10pm. In it, a total of five women claim they were indecently assaulted by him when they were schoolgirls in the late 1960s and 1970s.

October 7

Prime Minister David Cameron calls for the "truly shocking" allegations to be fully investigated.

October 9

Comedian Freddie Starr denies any wrongdoing in relation to claims he groped a teenager following the recording of one of Savile's shows.

Scotland Yard reveals they are looking at 120 lines of inquiry and as many as 25 victims. Commander Peter Spindler says allegations span four decades and abuse was on a "national scale". He says the inquiry, dubbed Operation Yewtree, will only become a criminal investigation if there is evidence against living individuals.

October 11

Allegations emerge that Savile abused children at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire and Leeds General Hospital.

October 12

BBC director general George Entwistle offers a "profound and heartfelt apology" to alleged victims as he announces two inquiries - one into potential failings over the handling of the abandoned Newsnight investigation, and a second into the "culture and practices of the BBC during the years Savile worked here".

October 13

The Department of Health says it will carry out an investigation into how Savile was appointed to lead a "taskforce" at Broadmoor in 1988.

Police say Savile's alleged catalogue of abuse could have spanned six decades and included around 60 victims.

October 19

A leaked internal email casts doubt on the BBC's stated reason for cancelling a Newsnight investigation into sexual abuse by Savile, The Times says.

Scotland Yard announces that Operation Yewtree, the inquiry into alleged child abuse by Savile, is now a formal criminal investigation involving other living people.

October 22

The BBC announces that Newsnight editor Peter Rippon has stepped aside "with immediate effect". The corporation says his explanation as to why the show dropped its investigation was "inaccurate or incomplete in some respects".

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says Surrey Police passed a file to them in 2009 based on a complaint made by "a woman who said she had witnessed an indecent assault by Jimmy Savile in the 1970s".

The force found evidence of "three further potential offences" by Savile but evidence showed none of the alleged victims would support a prosecution.

October 24

Prime Minister David Cameron tells MPs that the Director of Public Prosecutions is to review documents from police investigations into Savile.

October 25

Scotland Yard says it is investigating in excess of 400 lines of inquiry involving 300 victims, of whom all except two are women. Commander Peter Spindler says Savile is one of the most prolific sex offenders in recent history and the inquiry into his abuse will be a "watershed" investigation into sex crime.

October 26

It emerges that seven alleged victims of Savile made complaints to four separate police forces - Surrey, London, Sussex and Jersey - while the disgraced television presenter was alive, but it was decided no further action should be taken.

October 28

Former pop star Gary Glitter is arrested by officers working on Operation Yewtree. He is bailed to return in mid-December.

November 1

Comedian Freddie Starr is arrested in connection with the Savile abuse investigation. He is released on bail.

November 2

Freddie Starr returns for further questioning and is later bailed again.

November 8

Savile's former chauffeur and flatmate Ray Teret is one of two men arrested by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of a historic rape but police say it is not linked to the inquiry into the former BBC star.

November 9

Mr Teret is released on bail.

November 11

Former BBC producer Wilfred De'ath is arrested at an address in Cambridge but later insists he was the victim of mistaken identity.

BBC director general George Entwistle resigns after an "unacceptable" Newsnight broadcast into child abuse in North Wales wrongly implicates a former senior Conservative politician.

November 15

Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis is arrested on suspicion of sexual offences. Police say the allegations do not directly involve Savile, and are classed under the strand of their investigation termed "others".

November 16

Mr Travis denies any wrongdoing, saying: "This is nothing to do with kids."

November 27

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe reveals Operation Yewtree, the police investigation into the Savile abuse scandal, has cost around £2 million so far.

November 29

A man in his 80s, from Berkshire, is arrested and questioned by detectives investigating the Savile abuse scandal after attending police premises in south London by appointment.

Scotland Yard says he is being treated as part of the investigation that does not directly relate to Savile.

December 6

PR guru Max Clifford is arrested at his Surrey home on suspicion of sexual offences and taken to Belgravia police station in central London for questioning.

Speaking outside the police station later on, he protests his innocence, saying: "These allegations are damaging and totally untrue."

December 10

A man in his 60s, from London, is arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and taken to a south London police station.

Scotland Yard says he falls under the strand of the investigation termed "others". He is later bailed until January.

December 12

Scotland Yard say 31 rape allegations have been made against Savile - out of a total of 450 complaints.
The force say 589 people have come forward with information relating to the scandal.

December 19

Former BBC radio producer Ted Beston, 76, is arrested in London on suspicion of sexual offences and vehemently denies the allegations the following day.

January 2 2013

Former TV presenter Jim Davidson is arrested but "vigorously denies" allegations of sexual offences made against him by two women. A 53-year-old man is also arrested.

Police say the allegations are not directly related to Savile and both men are bailed until March.