Disgraced BBC Presenter Jimmy Savile's Home Damaged By Fire
The Scottish home of notorious British TV and radio personality has been damaged by fire.
BBC News reports that emergency services attended a blaze Saturday evening at the cottage in the picturesque area of Glen Coe, north of Glasgow in the west of Scotland.
More from Deadline
Steve Coogan Reveals He's Filming New Season Of 'The Trip' In Plea To Avoid Driving Ban
BBC Documentary 'Lockerbie: Our Story' To Spotlight The Personal Stories Of Victims Of Britain's Deadliest Terror Attack
Universal International Studios Boards BBC Thriller 'The Dream Lands'
Police Scotland said: 'Emergency services attended and the fire was extinguished by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
'Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.'
Savile, who died in 2011, owned the cottage for over a decade – it has been repeatedly vandalised since his crimes of rape, sexual assault and paedophilia came to light following his death.
The disgraced presenter was one of the UK's most familiar public figures. Besides his long career in radio and TV, he raised millions for charity and befriended both members of the royal family and senior politicians. At one point in the 1980s, he served as a friendly liaison between the estranged Prince and Princess of Wales, and he spent one Christmas at the country home of then prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
However, following his death an inquiry by the BBC – where he worked for decades – as well as several criminal investigations established that he had abused his high profile to prey on young women wherever he found them, and has become labelled as one of the biggest sex offenders in UK history.
Fire fighters were able to control a blaze in one of the outbuildings of the property, whose new owners have been granted permission to transform the property into a completely different dwelling.
Best of Deadline
2025 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More
2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
'The Apprentice' Oscar Nominees Sebastian Stan & Jeremy Strong On Why It's 'More Of A Horror Movie' With "Monstrous Egos"
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Festival brings 'big names in intimate spaces'
In 2022, comedians Charlotte Evans and Will Adamsdale began what was then Exeter's only regular new material comedy gig. Held in a tiny cafe, they said often the only noise in crowd was from a loud refrigerated meat counter. Three years later, Locally Sourced comedy has evolved into a four-day festival with more than 60 acts performing across 15 venues. Ms Evans said: "We never set out to make a festival, we just wanted a regular night to perform comedy. "It makes me so proud to see acts who started in front of the meat counter selling out their solo shows." Tim Key, Bridget Christie and Mark Watson were some of the big names performing alongside strong local acts at the festival which began on Thursday. JoJo Maberly performed her first-ever stand-up gig in Exeter three years ago and returned to the festival with her musical-comedy show Angst & Angstability. "It's so great to see the comedy world come alive in Exeter," she said. The success of the festival was depended on by comedians who said they were becoming increasingly priced out of the well-trodden routes to success. The cost of attending the Edinburgh Fringe, which served as a cheap breakthrough for so many top British comedians, has soared in recent years. In 2024 comics spoke out against "soaring costs" and "pure greed" which had prevented them from performing or making money at the festival. Comedian Greg Winfield, from Barnstaple, decided to go on a solo tour with his show Whatever You Say, attending the Exeter Comedy Festival but not Edinburgh. The comic of eight years said: "I think the old school way of doing comedy, of either moving to London or being on a relentless Edinburgh churn, is probably less important these days. "[Exeter Comedy Festival] the finest comedy festival in the South West - I challenge others to raise themselves to this level." All 15 venues at the Exeter Comedy Festival were independent businesses. They ranged from a cocktail bar, a vegan cafe to a barber shop, which was converted into a performance space. Alongside their shows, a number of comedians submitted pieces of art for a festival exhibition. Curated by Karen Lockhart, it features pieces by Spencer Jones, Emma Hughes, Olaf Falafel and others. Ms Lockhart said: "I wanted to give an outlet for all these comedians who also have something else going on." Festival organiser Georgia Thomas predicted the festival would continue to grow but it would stay true to having "big names in intimate spaces". "We wanted to create a festival similar to the shows you can see in Edinburgh and London without having to travel so far," she said. "Having big names in intimate spaces helps reduce the hierarchy which is good for them, good for local acts and good for us. "We'll keep the intimate vibe but grow the festival to benefit comedians, audiences and local businesses." Exeter Comedy Festival

USA Today
21 minutes ago
- USA Today
Prince William sounds alarm on oceans: 'Diminishing before our eyes'
Prince William sounds alarm on oceans: 'Diminishing before our eyes' Prince William on Sunday called on world leaders and businesses to take urgent action to protect the planet's oceans, saying it was a challenge "like none we have faced before." Speaking ahead of the U.N. Ocean Conference, which begins in France on Monday, William said rising sea temperatures, plastic pollution and overfishing were putting pressure on fragile ecosystems and the people who depend on them. "What once seemed an abundant resource is diminishing before our eyes," William, heir to the British throne, told the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco. "Put simply: the ocean is under enormous threat, but it can revive itself. But, only if together, we act now," he told the meeting of investors and policymakers. Princess Charlotte is 10! She looks just like Prince William in new birthday photo taken by Princess Kate This week's U.N. conference aims to get more countries to ratify a treaty on protecting ocean biodiversity, which currently lacks sufficient signatories to come into force. William addressed Sunday's gathering in his role as founder of the Earthshot Prize, launched by the prince in 2020 with the aim of making huge strides to tackle environmental problems within a decade. On Saturday, William's office released a video of him talking to David Attenborough, one of the world's best-known nature broadcasters, about his latest documentary "Ocean," which examines the plight of the seas. "The thing which I am appalled by, when I first saw the shots that were taken for this film, are what we have done to the deep ocean floor," Attenborough told him. "If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms."
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gerry Adams's lawyer to pursue chatbots for libel
The high-profile media lawyer who represented Gerry Adams in his libel trial against the BBC is now preparing to sue the world's most powerful AI chatbots for defamation. As one of the most prominent libel lawyers in the UK, Paul Tweed said that artificial intelligence was the 'new battleground' in trying to prevent misinformation about his clients from being spread online. Mr Tweed is turning his attention to tech after he recently helped the former Sinn Fein leader secure a €100,000 (£84,000) payout over a BBC documentary that falsely claimed he sanctioned the murder of a British spy. The Belfast-based solicitor said he was already building a test case against Meta that could trigger a flurry of similar lawsuits, as he claims to have exposed falsehoods shared by chatbots on Facebook and Instagram. It is not the first time tech giants have been sued for defamation over questionable responses spewed out by their chatbots. Robby Starbuck, the US activist known for targeting diversity schemes at major companies, has sued Meta for defamation alleging that its AI chatbot spread a number of false claims about him, including that he took part in the Capitol riots. A Norwegian man also filed a complaint against OpenAI after its ChatGPT software incorrectly stated that he had killed two of his sons and been jailed for 21 years. Mr Tweed, who has represented celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford and Jennifer Lopez, said: 'My pet subject is generative AI and the consequences of them repeating or regurgitating disinformation and misinformation.' He believes statements put out by AI chatbots fall outside the protections afforded to social media companies, which have traditionally seen them avoid liability for libel. If successful, Mr Tweed will expose social media companies that have previously argued they should not be responsible for claims made on their platforms because they are technology companies rather than traditional publishers. Mr Tweed said: 'I've been liaising with a number of well-known legal professors on both sides of the Atlantic and they agree that there's a very strong argument that generative AI will fall outside the legislative protections.' The lawyer said that chatbots are actually creating new content, meaning they should be considered publishers. He said that the decision by many tech giants to move their headquarters to Ireland for lower tax rates had also opened them up to being sued in Dublin's high courts, where libel cases are typically decided by a jury. This setup is often seen as more favourable to claimants, which Mr Tweed himself says has fuelled a wave of 'libel tourism' in Ireland. He also said Dublin's high courts are attractive as a lower price option compared to London, where he said the costs of filing libel claims are 'eye-watering'. He said: 'I think it's absurd now, the level of costs that are being claimed. The libel courts in London are becoming very, very expensive and highly risky now. The moment you issue your claim form, the costs go into the stratosphere. 'It's not in anyone's interest for people to be deprived of access to justice. It will get to the point where nobody sues for libel unless you're a billionaire.' Meta was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.