Nephew calls for Savile to be exhumed and cremated

Nephew calls for Savile to be exhumed and cremated
Nephew calls for Savile to be exhumed and cremated (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

A relative of Jimmy Savile has called for his body to be exhumed and cremated out of respect for other bereaved families. Guy Marsden, a nephew of the disgraced DJ, said he '100 per cent' supported families who called for Savile's body to be moved away from the graves of their loved ones in Scarborough's Woodlands Cemetery following claims that Savile abused 300 people over six decades. Mr Marsden, of Leeds, said: "If it was one of mine who was buried there, I wouldn't like it if someone like Jimmy was in the same place. "Our thoughts are with their loved ones. "At the end of the day, they say his grave can be exhumed and they can cremate Jimmy Savile and they can put him in a private place known only to the family. But who'd want to visit him anyway? I wouldn't want to know. I know that a lot of my family would say the same." Mr Marsden, a roofer, stressed that no formal plans to exhume Savile had been made and he has not been offered any official guidance on the matter, but said he would support the plans if they went ahead. Calls to dig up the late BBC star were made public at a Scarborough Borough Council meeting on Monday, during which the council voted to remove his name from its Freedom of the Borough honours list. Councillor Colin Haddington, for Filey, said the family of a young child buried very close to Savile's grave was particularly distressed. He said: "I was approached by one of my constituents who informed me that her granddaughter is buried in Woodlands Cemetery and unfortunately Jimmy Savile has been buried very close by this lady's granddaughter. This has caused a great deal of distress to the constituent and her family." Council leaders said the decision to move the disgraced presenter could only be made by Savile's family and they had no current plans to exhume the body.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.