The story of Jimmy Savile’s alleged abuse has taken yet another sordid turn. The Sun have uncovered an old interview with Q magazine which hints at a possible link between Jimmy Savile, dead bodies and the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Savile worked at Stoke Mandeville as a volunteer. He had his own room there and allegedly abused young patients. The hospital has launched an investigation into his “unaccompanied mortuary visits” and are reportedly looking into whether or not the former TV presenter had keys to the mortuary, or “interacted inappropriately” with the corpses there.

In the interview with Q magazine, Savile says “One of my jobs is to take away the deceased. You can look after somebody, be alone with somebody, who has lived a whole lifetime, and I’m just saying goodbye and looking after him.” Seemingly unprompted, Savile then says “That is a privilege and an honour. Some people get hold of the fact that Jim likes looking after cadavers and say, ‘Aha, Jim’s a necrophiliac!’ I’m not a necrophiliac.” According to The Sun, this unsolicited defence of his own actions mirror claims that he made, insisting that he is not a paedophile, years before any such claims were made against him.

Since the airing of ITV’s Exposure documentary on October 3, 2012 – which featured testimonies from several women claiming that Savile had sexually abused them when they were underage – several more alleged victims have come forward to various police forces around the country. According to the BBC, up to 340 lines of enquiry are being pursued.