GLASGOW sport and culture bosses have destroyed a controversial woodcarving of prolific paedophile Jimmy Savile.
The life sized statue of the disgraced TV host had been placed in the foyer of Scotstoun Leisure Centre since the mid-1990s and was erected in honour of the TV star’s charity work in the city.
It was removed from the pool in 2012, though reportedly council officials weren’t even aware that it existed.
After the statue’s cigar was stolen at some point in the late 90s, most swimmers were unaware of who the carving was supposed to be.
When the predatory sex offender died, before his depraved crimes were known, fans launched a campaign to have it moved to a more prominent spot, like Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum or People’s Palace.
But Glasgow City Council at the time said it was “fitting that Jimmy should stay at Scotstoun to inspire athletes.”
It was removed from public sight on 2 October 2012, days before an ITV documentary laid bare claims Saville had sexually abused teenage girls.
At the time one pool worker told the Sun: “It caused a panic and bosses were adamant it was removed right away.
“No one has any idea what will happen to the sculpture now.”
But it was never clear what had happened to the bust, created by city council woodcarver Gordon Joss.
But files released through Freedom of Information to The National say the council destroyed the creepy likeness. Glasgow Life, the arms length organisation who have responsibility for the city’s swimming pools and art collections, has declined to release any other documents surrounding the figurine.
It comes as calls to remove the likeness of paedophile David Fagan from Alasdair Gray’s ceramic mural at Hillhead Subway Station in Glasgow.
The 40ft piece, entitled All Kinds of Folks, includes a portrait of Fagan, a former North Lanarkshire councillor who, as the vice chair of Strathclyde Partnership Trust commissioned the mural.
Fagan will be sentenced next month, after he was found guilty of telling an undercover police officer he wanted to rape a child and sending her messages about incest and abuse.
In the mural he appears in the bottom right corner, extending a hand over the west end of Glasgow, and posing next to the MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Sandra White.
White too has called for Fagan to be removed, saying it was “a shame” the child abuser was in the mural.
“If there was any way he could be removed from it, I would be supportive of that. Is there any way Alasdair could work his magic to change who is in it, perhaps? It [including real people] was done with the best of intentions, with people who worked in the area – you have the flower seller and the homeless fellow and it’s all very good.
“But it is a bit concerning someone has been immortalised who has committed such a heinous crime,” she said.
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