That Rolf Harris – or as the Sun called him ‘Paedo Rolf’ – is back in the news again causes me nothing but sadness. Naturally, Britain’s ugliest tabloid newspaper went to town on the news that Harris had been seen walking onto primary school grounds and – allegedly – waving at children and then obtained the obligatory quote from a ‘furious mum of two’. Look, the fact of the matter is that Harris is on the sex offenders list after serving time in prison for various awful offences, but is this really the story the media would like us to think it is?
Whilst it is unarguable that Harris was where the paper said he was, it is arguable what he was doing there in the first place. The school is apparently near where he lives and there is a wood sculptor working near the school. When questioned by the school head teacher, one Richard Jarrett, Harris replied that he was there to collect some wood from the sculptor and left when he was asked to. At no time did Harris have access to the children, at no point did he come into contact with them. The insinuation is that Harris must have been up to no good, but really?
The disgraced entertainer is 88 now and the last offence for which he was jailed was in 1986. From the outside looking in, he is a frail old man who is still instantly recognisable to virtually every adult in the country and unless he is mentally ill, or has some kind of degenerative brain condition, it seems unlikely he would be ‘stalking the grounds’, as the Sun so delicately put it.
If Harris is of sound mind, if not body, would he be considering a criminal act, similar to those for which he was imprisoned? His previous offences were hardly in the spotlight. He wasn’t ‘stalking the grounds’ of anywhere during his previous assaults. Why would he start now?
Of course, Harris has disgraced himself, wrecked his own career and destroyed any legacy he might otherwise have left. And that scarcely matters because the victims, who will live with the scars forever, are the only people who deserve our sympathy and support.
This latest Harris story may not be a story at all. But the newspapers will ensure it runs for a while yet. The police have said there’s nothing in it, maybe there isn’t. And if that’s the case, let’s move on. I see no useful purpose in dragging this out.
