© Sean Dempsey/PA Wire
Former newspaper tycoon Eddy Shah has said underage girls who engage in consensual sex must take blame for the abuse they suffer.
Former newspaper tycoon Eddy Shah has said underage girls who engage in consensual sex must take blame for the abuse they suffer.
Former British newspaper tycoon Eddy Shah, cleared last month of raping a schoolgirl in the 1990s, has said underage girls who engage in consensual sex must take blame for the abuse they suffer.
The 69-year-old, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, was found not guilty at the Old Bailey of raping a girl at upmarket London hotels when she was between 12 and 15.
In his first in-depth interview since then, Mr Shah described charges of rape relating to girls under 16 who "threw themselves" at celebrities as "a technical thing".
He also claimed that Scotland Yard's investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile and other television stars from the 1970s and 1980s is developing into a "witch hunt".
His controversial comments come after a prosecutor was suspended and a judge placed under investigation this week when it emerged a 13-year-old female sex abuse victim was labelled "predatory" and "sexually experienced" in court.
In an interview with presenter Stephen Nolan for BBC Radio 5 Live, Mr Shah said: "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."
