THE way North Yorkshire Police dealt with historic child sex abuse allegations relating to Jimmy Savile and his friend Peter Jaconelli is due to be examined. 

The force has made a "voluntary referral" to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)  over how it responded to an allegation it received over a decade ago about Savile  and about several allegations against Scarborough resident Jaconelli, who died in 1999.

The referral also relates to whether any information it held on record about Savile or his known associates was properly and comprehensively disclosed to Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) when it, and other police forces in England and Wales, were asked to do so by HMIC in December 2012 and again by the IPCC in May last year.

Chief Constable Dave Jones, said: "In order to determine whether North Yorkshire Police responded appropriately to information we may have received, I instructed that an immediate review all of our systems be completed to ascertain if there was any recorded information in relation to Savile, Jaconelli and their known associates and friends, in respect of any reported offending.

“As a result of this review, I have referred the matter to the IPCC for their consideration." 

North Yorkshire Police inquires have already obtained evidence from a number of identified witnesses, a spokesperson said.

Such is the nature of the evidence that, if he were alive today, Peter Jaconelli would have been interviewed under caution and a file of evidence would have been submitted for consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service, North Yorkshire Police said.

Information has already been referred by North Yorkshire Police to Operation Yewtree, the national investigation into allegations regarding Savile’s activities.