Savile 'thought he was untouchable', says former PA

Jimmy Savile's former personal assistant has said the disgraced TV star "thought he was untouchable", while it was also announced that a hospital cafe named after the entertainer will have its name changed.

Savile 'thought he was untouchable', says former PA

Jimmy Savile's former personal assistant has said the disgraced TV star "thought he was untouchable", while it was also announced that a hospital cafe named after the entertainer will have its name changed.

Janet Cope, 70, who was Savile's PA for 32 years until she was suddenly sacked by him in 2001, described him as "eccentric, manipulative, controlling" and said he was like Peter Pan, "forever surrounding himself with youngsters".

She told the Daily Mirror: "I was frightened to death of him and I wasn't the only one. He loved the power he had over people. On the face of it Jim led a celibate, nomadic and simple life which may have disguised a more sordid double life."

The cafe in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, named Jimmy's, was opened in 2005 by Savile as a result of the fundraising he had done for the spinal injuries unit.

But the charity which runs the cafe, WRVS, has confirmed the name will be changed to Cafe@WRVS.

It said this will bring it into line with how its cafes are branded elsewhere around the country.

David McCullough, chief executive of WRVS, said: "WRVS and Stoke Mandeville Hospital have agreed that Jimmy's Cafe will be renamed 'Cafe@WRVS', aligning it with other WRVS cafes across the country."

This follows weeks of allegations against the former entertainer, who police believe may have sexually abused 60 people since 1959.

Savile, who died in October 2011 aged 84, is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old in the hospital in Aylesbury where he volunteered as a porter.

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