Peter Jaconelli
Born(1925-11-25)25 November 1925
Glasgow, Scotland
Died15 May 1999(1999-05-15) (aged 73)
Occupations
  • Business magnate
  • councillor
Political partyConservative

Peter Jaconelli (25 November 1925 – 15 May 1999), was a business magnate, and mayor of Scarborough, North Yorkshire from 1971–1972. He was implicated in the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal.

Life

Jaconelli was born in Glasgow[1] on 25 November 1925[2] His father, Richard,[3] was head of a company (founded in 1833 by his Italian great grandfather) manufacturing and selling ice cream which relocated to Scarborough with the family in 1933. Here the seven-year-old Jaconelli began selling, something he continued to do even when he became chief executive and even after retiring in 1991,[2] being known as the King of the Cornets.[4] When in charge of the company he expanded it from a local company to a national catering one, supplying both ice-creams and frozen desserts to restaurants.[2] At its peak in the 1990s it supplied 2.5 million litres of frozen desserts per year, including exports to Spain, Portugal and the Middle East.[3]

Outside business, he was a Conservative local councillor[5] becoming mayor of Scarborough for 1971–1972 and made Honorary Alderman of the Borough of Scarborough in 1996.[4] He was also chairman of the North Yorkshire County Council planning committee, and on a number of other local government committees.[2]

On 27 April 1972 he ate 500 oysters in 48.07 minutes to establish a Guinness World Record.[6]

He died on May 15th 1999[2] and was buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Scarborough.[1] In 2012 his close friend Jimmy Savile was buried nearby.[1]

Sexual abuse scandal

In 2014, it was revealed that Jaconelli had been charged with indecent assault in 1972 and with Savile was suspected of being part of a paedophile ring which had operated in Scarborough.[7] The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it had a case file related to Jaconelli but they were unable to confirm whether the charge was dropped, whether a prosecution was authorised, or which police force was responsible for the investigation.[8]

North Yorkshire Police launched Operation Hibiscus in February 2014 after an ITV documentary detailed abuse allegations involving Jaconelli and Savile. That December, the force issued an apology for failing to prosecute Jaconelli during his lifetime. They stated that they received 32 complaints regarding Jaconelli and that there would have been sufficient evidence to submit the case to the CPS if he were alive.[9]

Savile's headstone had already been removed, and Jaconelli's was removed shortly after North Yorkshire Police's announcement.[1] The title of Honorary Alderman was posthumously removed in 2013.[1]

Jaconelli was played by Peter Wight in The Reckoning, a 2023 miniseries about Savile's life broadcast on the BBC.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mystery as shamed Scarborough mayor's headstone disappears". Yorkshire Post. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wainwright, Martin (20 May 1999). "Obituary Peter Jaconelli, The ice cream king of Scarborough". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  3. 1 2 "End of an era for Jaconelli's". The Scarborough News. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Ex-Scarborough mayor Jaconelli 'charged with indecent assault in 1970s'". Yorkshire Post. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Harvey Proctor, K. (2016). Credible and true: the political and personal memoir of K. Harvey Proctor. London: Biteback. p. 23. ISBN 9781785900013 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ↑ McWhirter, Norris; McWhirter, Ross (1974). Guinness Book of World Records. Enfield: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 476 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ↑ The Newsroom (31 December 2014). "'Shocked' Jaconelli family speaks up". The Scarborough News. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Savile friend Jaconelli was charged with indecent assault in the 1970s". ITV News. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Jimmy Savile victims receive apology from North Yorkshire police". The Guardian. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Robinson, Abby (11 October 2023). "What happened to mayor of Scarborough Peter Jaconelli, Jimmy Savile's friend?". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
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