Good grief.. I hadn't even heard about the case, although I notice Wikipedia's entry notes there had been reporting restrictions in place until a couple days ago.

If anything good can be said of his conduct, at least he did finally plead guilty, rather than dragging it through a lengthy court process, which would surely have been traumatic for his victims (again).

Finally. Yes, but not before he'd stood up and denied everything and called the accusations "cruel".

He's quite a piece of work...

How does a person get that way? Is it nature or nurture?

Actually, I suppose I know the answer to that. Some people are born without empathy- not really their fault- there's something wrong with their brains. Others are shaped that way- by a society that encourages the objectification of people.

Yes, I go along with that.

Stuart Hall was a smart guy- smarter than the shows he appeared in. He knew he was doing bad things and he did them anyway. In some ways I find him scarier than Savile. Savile was clearly odd- a person whose sexuality was mysterious but plainly not mainstream- but with Hall there were no warning signs. He was a jolly uncle- a bit fruity perhaps but not in "that" way. I don't think I'd have trusted my kids with Savile but I'd have trusted them with him.

I'll read "tarts and fags" as "pies and guys" if that's OK.

Mmmm... Pies!