Talk:Lionel Gamlin

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Allegations of sexual abuse[edit]

In this edit, User:TheRedPenOfDoom has removed any reference to the allegations against Gamlin which have been made by Andrew O'Hagan here and reported in The Independent here. I propose that the paragraph be reinstated, with some amendments to the wording based on the report in The Independent, which states: "In an article for the London Review of Books, author Andrew O'Hagan claims BBC broadcaster Lionel Gamlin, who produced children's programmes and presented Top of the Form, regularly had sex with young boys in a secret Fitzrovia hideaway during the 1950s. He said Gamlin and a man behind "some of the landmark comedy shows at the BBC" shared use of the flat, where they would take young boys...." The report also names Derek McCulloch, a colleague of Gamlin's, but it doesn't directly link the two, so I now think we should not do so either. I propose reinstating a brief paragraph headed "Allegations", redferenced to The Independent and worded as follows:

In 2012, reports in the media relating to the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal referred to Gamlin. Author Andrew O'Hagan wrote that, during the 1950s, Gamlin used a secret venue in Fitzrovia where he and another senior member of staff at the BBC regularly had sex with young boys.

Gamlin died 45 years ago; he is a notable person; the allegations are in the public domain and have been reported by a reliable source; they form part of the BBC culture in the past which is under independent investigation. They deserve to be reported here, as allegations rather than as fact. Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:22, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

there is even less sources covering the allegations against Gamlin than against McCullogh. and I have a serious question about the credentials of novelist Andrew O'Hagan in investigating allegations of child abuse that happened before he was even born. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 20:26, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
What you might think about O'Hagan's credentials doesn't matter one iota. The fact is that the allegations have been reported in a reliable source and are noteworthy. Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:29, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
credentials of people making allegations most CERTAINLY is a valid concern about whether or not including them WP:UNDUE. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 20:31, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In that case, his credentials look pretty impressive to me (and please stop shouting). Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:34, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
i see someone who wrote novels, not anything that indicates experience in investigating 50+ year old child abuse cases. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 20:42, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
He has also won awards for non-fiction work, so it is misleading to refer to him simply as a "novelist". Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:44, 4 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There has been an RFC about similar allegations made against Derek McCulloch. The RFC decided to leave the allegations in the article with their sources. Can we remove the "undue" notice from this page? There is a clear set of allegations made by reliable sources, and they should be reported here. I can't see why there is a debate about the issue. Ben (Major Bloodnok) (talk) 15:36, 21 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]