Former newspaper owner Eddy Shah claims Operation Yewtree is 'easy policing' and victims can be to blame for abuse
Former newspaper owner Eddy Shah has claimed underage girls who “just go out and have a good time” are to blame for being abused, in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal and subsequent Operation Yewtree investigations by Scotland Yard.
Comments: Eddy Shah was speaking on BBC Radio 5 live
The 69-year-old founder of the Today newspaper made the comments during an interview on BBC Radio 5 live. He was recently found not guilty of raping a schoolgirl.
Speaking about Operation Yewtree – the police investigation into cases of child abuse following the Jimmy Savile revelations – Shah told BBC presenter Stephen Nolan: “Rape was a technical thing – below a certain age.
“But these girls were going out with pop groups and becoming groupies and throwing themselves at them. Young girls and young men have always wanted a bit of excitement when they are young. They want to appear adult and do adult things.”
When pressed on whether that meant some victims were to blame, he said: “If we’re talking about girls who just go out and have a good time, then they are to blame.
“If we talk about people who go out and actually get ‘raped’ raped, then I feel no – and everything should be done against that.”
Shah added that Operation Yewtree was “easy policing and easy prosecutions” and “based on emotion”.