- Ex-Radio Caroline DJ was mentored by Savile in early days of his career
- Court heard he followed paedophile TV star around 'like a shadow'
- He denied 18 counts of rape, two sexual assaults and 12 indecent assaults
- Jury convict him of 7 rapes and 11 indecent assaults after deliberations
- 11 victims aged 13 to 15 and offences took place between 1962 and 1978
- Teret played down links to Savile who he once described as 'a genius'
- But prosecutors said the pair preyed on young girl they met at disco
- Police officer in case said Teret was a 'devious, manipulative predator'
- His lawyer urges judge not to sentence him for the rest of his life
Jimmy Savile's former chauffeur Ray Teret has been found guilty of a string of sex attacks today
A DJ friend of Jimmy Savile has been convicted of a catalogue of historical sex offences against young girls.
Ex-Radio
Caroline DJ Ray Teret, 73, used his celebrity status in the Manchester
club scene in the 1960s and 1970s to prey on many of his victims.
Teret
- known as 'Ugli Ray' - was mentored by Savile in the early days of his
career and was described as following him around 'like a shadow',
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Teret,
of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, told the jury he had no interest in
underage girls, despite a previous conviction for sexual intercourse
with a 15-year-old girl in 1999, an offence he continues to deny.
He
denied 18 rapes, two other serious sexual assaults, one attempted rape,
12 indecent assaults and one count of indecency with a child.
After
more 60 hours of deliberations, he was convicted of seven rapes and 11
indecent assaults. He was cleared of the other charges.
Opening
the case, prosecutor Tim Evans said: 'The Crown say that young teenage
girls, far from doing nothing for him, were consistently pursued by him
through the 60s and 70s.'
Many of the victims were starstruck, with DJs treated like 'royalty' in that era, said Mr Evans.
He
said: 'The basic set-up, the background is the same - a naive girl who
has the headlights of fame shone on her, who is taken to a flat and
without more, without any understanding of what is going on, has a male
many years older, having sex with her.'
Giving
evidence, Teret told the prosecutor that men who pounced on a girl and
hoped to get away with it 'want shooting' and he had never been in that
situation.
He said: 'I only make love. Not sex, sir. I only make love with ladies who want to make love with me.'
The
jury found Teret guilty of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults, and not
guilty of one serious sexual assault in relation to 11 victims. He was
cleared of various sexual offences in relation to six other
complainants.
Teret
was cleared of aiding and abetting Savile to rape a 15-year-old girl in
the early 1960s but was found guilty himself of raping the same victim.
Ex-radio DJ Teret (right) was said to have followed Savile (left) 'like a shadow' in the 1960s and 1970s
Teret (left, arriving at court and, right, at the height of his fame) tried to distance himself from Savile at trial
The
Crown had said that Teret lied to the naive teenager that he was 17 and
drove her from a disco in Savile's bubble car to a nearby flat.
Savile was waiting as he sat next to her and said she had lovely hair as he began to stroke it, the woman told the court.
This is the closest the victims of Jimmy Savile will get to a conviction against their attacker
Abuse case lawyer Liz Dux
She
said she started to tell him how she had recently dyed her hair when
the serial paedophile put his hands up her skirt and pulled her knickers
down before he pushed her on to a bed and raped her.
Teret came into the room after Savile left and also raped her on the bed, she said.
He then was said to have told her: 'You should be thanking us because we have made it easier for [with] the next person.'
Two
other men were on trial with Teret. Alan Ledger, 62, also from
Altrincham, was found not guilty of a serious sex assault, not guilty of
two indecent assaults and not guilty of one count of indecency with a
child.
William Harper, 65, of Stretford - known in his DJ days as Tony Grey - was cleared of one count of attempted rape.
Teret made no reaction as the final verdict was delivered by the jury foreman.
Tim
Evans, prosecuting, said ahead of sentencing next Thursday, he would
give the judge further information on the impact Teret has had on his
victims.
The prosecution said Teret 'consistently pursued' young teenage girls throughout the 1960s and 1970s
Some have been able to get on with their lives, but others, Mr Evans said, were left 'very significantly damaged'.
Nicholas
Johnson QC, defending Teret, said: 'We have to respect the jury's
verdict, and in respecting the jury's verdict there is little I can say
on Mr Teret's behalf.'
Mr
Johnson said the defendant was now facing the prospect of serving a
'very long time in prison' but, given his age, asked the judge not to
'quash any prospect that one day he might be released from prison'.
Teret, who has been on bail until today, was remanded into custody to be sentenced next week.
Nazir
Afzal, CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West, said: 'During the
Sixties and Seventies, Ray Teret was a popular Manchester DJ.
'He used this status to target young and vulnerable girls who were impressionable and in some cases simply star-struck.
'He
singled his victims out for attention, using charm and flattery, before
subjecting them to traumatic and callous assaults. Some he groomed over
a period of time, whilst others he assaulted soon after he first
approached them. Some of the victims were only 13 years of age.
'The
victims in this case have lived with the reality of what Ray Teret did
for many years. It has had a significant impact upon all of their lives -
personally, professionally and socially.
He
added: 'In some cases it has had devastating consequences. Most of them
felt they couldn't tell anyone about it until recently. Many of them
had thought it was their fault - it was never their fault.
'They
have all shown enormous bravery in coming forward to the police and in
attending court to speak out about what happened. Their collective
courage has ensured that Ray Teret has been brought to justice today. He
must now face up to the reality and consequences of his offence
Police removed bags of evidence from Teret's Altrincham home after they arrested him in 2012
The documents and journals they found showed how close Teret was to Savile in the 1960s and 1970s
'I
hope today's verdict will in some way help these victims to move on
with their lives and I also hope it provides other victims of sexual
abuse with the courage and confidence to come forward.'
He used this status to target young and vulnerable girls who were impressionable and in some cases simply star-struck.
Nazir Afzal, CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West
Liz
Dux, an abuse lawyer at Slater & Gordon which represents 169 of
Savile's victims and one of Teret's, welcomed the verdict.
She
said: 'This is the closest the victims of Jimmy Savile will get to a
conviction against their attacker - they will take some comfort from the
verdict.
'Teret
has been proved to be a predatory paedophile and dangerous sex offender
in the same mould as his friend Savile. Yet again it shows victims of
sexual assault that, even years after offences have been committed, they
will be taken seriously, offenders can be punished and justice finally
done.
'Our
client is to be commended for her bravery in giving evidence about a
truly horrific crime. Having lived with the mental scars for many years,
I hope now she can find some closure.'
'Ugli' Ray Teret: The man tutored by Jimmy Savile - who he once called 'a genius' - hid his series of sex crimes for decades
Teret denied close connections to
Savile after the later's catalogue of sex crimes emerged - but described
the former Top of Pops host as 'a genius' in a journal police found at
his home
Paedophile DJ 'Ugli' Ray Teret attempted to distance himself from his former mentor Jimmy Savile.
He claimed that contrary to press reports they were not close, he had never lived with him, nor acted as his chauffeur.
Salisbury-born
Teret also denied he had appeared on screen with him on BBC's Top Of
The Pops, where Savile was said to have introduced him 'as my friend Ray
Teret'.
Teret
said: 'He didn't introduce me to anyone. He would say this is my
driver, my mechanic, my cleaner. He would make up something, whatever
dream came into his head. 'My accountant', he would call me most times.'
Teret said he first met Savile in the late 1950s at a singing contest at a Manchester ballroom.
Teret
went on to become a waiter at The Ritz ballroom in Manchester city
centre in the early 1960s and it was there that he met Savile again, who
remembered him as 'The Singer'.
He was then offered a job at his Jimmy Savile Disc Club in Higher Broughton.
Teret
said: 'He explained how to count the beats on the record, the tempo.
How to project to the back of the hall rather than shouting, things like
that.
'He told me to do the first hour, which was nerve-racking. I was learning to be a disc jockey.'
Eight
months later he cut ties with Savile, he claimed, and went on to host
his own DJ nights at the Beat City cellar club in Manchester.
In 1965 he landed a job at pirate station Radio Caroline - his signature tune being Jungle Fever by The Tornados.
He
said he gained his 'Ugli Ray' nickname at the station's opening party
when he was asked on stage what he would prefer to be called.
He said: 'I said 'call me ugli'. That is what my mother called me. 'Come in ugli', that is what she would say.'
The eccentric DJ
rose to fame presenting a slot on Manchester's Radio Piccadilly and soon
made enough to have smart cars with personalised number plates (above
and below)
He wore a gold bracelet with his nickname Ugli on it, a name he claimed his mother gave him
It
led to him sporting a gold bracelet with the word emblazoned on it -
which he proudly told the court he has worn up to this day.
He
then opened up a clothes boutique in the Isle of Man then, in 1970 and
back in Manchester, he set up his own DJing business with his father.
He also helped run a music shop in south Manchester and was a presenter on the city's Radio Piccadilly.
His regional fame grew and he drove luxury cars with personalised number plates.
Teret
claimed he was not in regular contact with Savile from the mid-60s to
the end of the 70s and said Savile never phoned him personally in that
period.
He
said: 'He disappeared from Manchester and went back to Leeds. On an odd
occasion when he came over I got a message saying Savile is going to be
at the fire station or at the town hall or wherever and would you meet
him, and I went.'
Asked about a photograph of himself sitting next to Savile in deckchairs, he denied it was a holiday snap.
After DJing nights at the Beat City cellar club in Manchester, he landed a job at pirate station Radio Caroline
Prosecutors said the DJ used his fame among young girls to groom and molest 'star-struck' victims
He said he thought it was taken in Blackpool in 1978 and the occasion was 'a handicapped children's outing which Mr Savile did'.
The
pair did travel together though to the Jersey Flower Festival in the
early 1970s. Teret wrote about this in a book manuscript entitled The
DJ's Bible, which police recovered on his arrest.
In
the journal, in which Teret described Savile as 'a genius', Teret said
he loaded the car on to the ferry and then drove to appearances. But he
denied being Savile's chauffeur for a time in the 1960s.
He
was jailed for six months in 1999 after he was found guilty of unlawful
sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl when he was aged 57.
'The devil's work': Victim who was groomed by Teret from the age of 14 says she hopes former-DJ dies in jail
A woman who was raped in her teens by Ray Teret has labelled him 'the devil's work'.
Teret groomed her in the 1970s when he lived in a flat above a record shop in south Manchester.
The
54-year-old mother said: 'He's the devil's work, a child abuser, a
paedophile, a sexual predator. When I was 14 I thought he was charming. I
thought he was nice. I thought he was my friend.
Teret
(left, around the time he committed the offences and, right, heading to
his trial) was described as the 'devil's work' by one of his victims,
who he groomed from the age of 14 in the 70s
He said Savile described him as 'my driver', 'my mechanic', 'my cleaner' or 'my accountant'
'He
gave me a lot of compliments and made me feel special by picking me out
and asking me to do things for him. He put me on a pedestal.
'He groomed me, basically. He was good at it. He was well practised. He had been doing it his whole life.
'I
would be happy if he went to prison for the rest of his life because
that's the best I can hope for. He ought to hang himself but I just
think he's far too arrogant to do that.
'The
reason I'm doing this publicity thing is because I want the message out
there that the powerful aren't going to get away with it any more.
'Victims
should come forward. They will get support, they will be listened to.
It's time abusers stopped ruining people's lives.'
A victim said Teret - who she 'thought was her friend' - was 'well practised' at grooming young girls
The jury were told Teret and Savile once both raped a girl after Teret brought her to a flat in Saville's car
She said the ordeal had had a lasting affect on her relationships.
She
said: 'It made me feel very sad, very angry and it made me think how
different life could have been had it not happened. I felt cheated.
'He
twisted what I thought about sex, about men, about intimate
relationships and damaged my thought processes and that's stayed with me
for far too long.
'Even
though I now realise what's happened, it's difficult to change. Even
though I understand, it's difficult. I know there are good men out there
but it's very hard for me to trust men.
'I
feel fortunate now that I will be able to get on with my life. It
hasn't totally destroyed me. I had bouts of depression and anxiety but a
lot of people have been through a lot of different things. That's life.
I've been able to continue and was strong enough to bring up my
children without a man present. I've had a lot of failed relationships.'
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