Inquiry slams BBC bosses over Savile

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NEW: BBC Trust: There were serious failings in editorial oversight and management controlReview finds no evidence of cover-up in decision to shelve Jimmy Savile investigationThe BBC's deputy director of news Stephen Mitchell resigns over the matterHundreds of claims of sexual abuse by the late TV star have emerged since October

London (CNN) -- A BBC program's decision to drop an investigation into sex abuse claims against one of its former program hosts doesn't appear to have been a cover-up, a report on the matter said Wednesday, but there were major flaws in the move.

The head of the inquiry, Nick Pollard, said the decision by the show's editor to shelve the story late last year -- taken shortly before the BBC broadcast tribute shows devoted to the late Jimmy Savile -- was seriously flawed.

Read more: Who was Jimmy Savile?

But he had even sterner words for senior BBC News managers, saying leadership "seemed to be in short supply" when revelations about Savile subsequently emerged in October of this year.

"The decision to drop the original investigation was flawed and the way it was taken was wrong, but I believe it was done in good faith. It was not done to protect the Savile tribute programmes or for any improper reason," said Pollard, a former head of Sky News.

Read more: Police probe hospital abuse claims against TV host Jimmy Savile

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The management system was "completely incapable" of dealing with the crisis, he said, and his report "shows that the level of chaos and confusion was even greater than was apparent at the time."

The evidence gathered by the Newsnight journalists last year should have been passed to police, Pollard said.

The then-Newsnight editor who shelved the story, Peter Rippon, "made a bad mistake in not examining the evidence properly," he added.

Pollard said e-mails he studied had also revealed there was "knowledge, not just rumour," within other parts of the BBC "about the unsavoury side of Savile's character" at the time the tribute shows were planned.

Allegations of sexual assault and rape against Savile, who was a household name in Britain for decades, were first aired by rival broadcaster ITV in October. A slew of other claims followed.

Read more: How celebrity child sex scandal has rocked the BBC

Police believe Savile, who died in October of last year at age 84, sexually abused hundreds of young women and girls in past decades, with some offenses committed on BBC premises.

Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, which oversees the BBC, said it accepted all the findings and recommendations of the report and would act on them.

The crisis claimed the scalp of BBC Director General George Entwistle, who resigned at the height of the furor over the BBC's handling of the Savile affair. It broke only weeks after he took the top role at the broadcaster.

Acting Director-General Tim Davie said that Stephen Mitchell, deputy director of news, had resigned Wednesday in light of the report. He will not be given a severance package.

Read more: Ex-Scout tells of abuse at hands of TV presenter Jimmy Savile

While critical of BBC management, Pollard told a news conference there was no "fundamental undermining of the BBC's journalism."

He added that he believed an apparent drop in public trust in the broadcaster, revealed in a survey released Monday, would be short-lived.

The BBC Trust said it welcomed the report's finding that no "inappropriate managerial pressure" had been involved in the decision to shelve the Newsnight investigation.

"Nonetheless, it is clear that there were serious failings in editorial oversight and management control that now need to be met with concerted action by the BBC."

As an immediate response, Newsnight will be given a new editorial leadership team.

Changes will also be made in the way stories considered to be "high risk" are managed.

The total cost for the Pollard Review will be close to 2 million pounds ($3.2 million).

It's the first of two major independent inquiries set up by the British public broadcaster after the scandal.

Savile hosted popular BBC children's TV programs, including "Jim'll Fix It" and "Top of the Pops." He was also well-known for his philanthropy, which raised millions of pounds for charity, and he was awarded a knighthood.

Alastair Campbell: Despite its failings and our past clashes, I back BBC

His targets were apparently mostly girls in their midteens in what authorities have described as alleged abuse on an unprecedented scale.

As of last week, police said 450 people had come forward with information relating to Savile, mainly alleging sexual abuse.

Savile is a suspect in 199 crimes, including 31 allegations of rape, London's Metropolitan Police said.

An eighth suspect was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexual offenses in connection with a police inquiry into claims against Savile and others, dubbed Operation Yewtree.

The man, who is in his 70s and from London, has not been named.

Photos: The life of Jimmy Savile

The furor over the BBC's handling of the original Newsnight investigation was compounded by its decision to broadcast a Newsnight probe last month into claims of abuse at children's homes in Wales.

That program led to a former senior Conservative politician, Lord McAlpine, being falsely named on Twitter as a child abuser. The BBC apologized and has paid compensation. Other individuals who repeated the libel via Twitter still face legal action.

An internal review of that Newsnight investigation, led by Ken MacQuarrie, reported back last month. It concluded that the program's production was marked by a series of "unacceptable" failures.

The BBC Trust responded separately to the MacQuarrie review Wednesday with a series of damning conclusions.

It said the "broadcast allegations were not based on sound evidence and had not been thoroughly tested," leading the audience to be misled in a "serious failure of BBC journalism."

The resulting false identification of Lord McAlpine was "a grave breach which had been costly to all concerned," the Trust said.

"This was a high-risk report which required rigorous supervision and did not receive it."

A second major inquiry set up to look into the culture and practices of the BBC during the decades Savile worked there is ongoing.

The BBC has also set up a review of its policies and procedures relating to sexual harassment, in light of allegations about past misconduct. It is headed by senior human rights lawyer Dinah Rose.

November 12, 2012 -- Updated 2018 GMT (0418 HKT) Despite regular run-ins with the BBC, Tony Blair's former press secretary says he remains a supporter of the corporation despite its recent troubles. November 13, 2012 -- Updated 1233 GMT (2033 HKT) Journalism is not a perfect science: it is usually done under pressure and in a confusing environment. It is not possible to avoid mistakes.November 11, 2012 -- Updated 1055 GMT (1855 HKT) It was a media label George Entwistle did not like: "Incurious George." He spent 23 years at the BBC, but just 54 days as director general.November 11, 2012 -- Updated 1407 GMT (2207 HKT) George Entwistle, the director general of the BBC stepped down Saturday amid controversy. CNN's Dan Rivers reports.October 23, 2012 -- Updated 1144 GMT (1944 HKT) BBC Director-General George Entwistle is questioned by British lawmakers over sexual abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile and others.October 26, 2012 -- Updated 2013 GMT (0413 HKT) Kevin Cook was nine years old when, he says, he was abused by TV presenter Jimmy Savile after appearing on the star's show, "Jim'll Fix It."October 24, 2012 -- Updated 0537 GMT (1337 HKT) The late BBC TV children's presenter was a national treasure in life, but in death has been accused of being a prolific sex abuser.October 23, 2012 -- Updated 1504 GMT (2304 HKT) CNN's Dan Rivers reports on a child sex abuse scandal that has devastated the legacy of a now-deceased British TV icon.October 28, 2012 -- Updated 1614 GMT (0014 HKT) Howard Kurtz on a damaging sex scandal across the pond and the ripple effects being felt at The New York Times. October 23, 2012 -- Updated 1506 GMT (2306 HKT) The late BBC TV star, now accused of being a prolific sex abuser, was a flamboyant figure -- even in death.October 22, 2012 -- Updated 2055 GMT (0455 HKT) Simon Hooper explains how the BBC is now facing claims of a wider culture of routine sexual harrassment that was allowed to thrive for decades.October 11, 2012 -- Updated 1902 GMT (0302 HKT) UK police have begun an investigation into alleged child abuse by the late TV star Jimmy Savile at two British hospitals.Today's five most popular stories

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