Peter Ford takes swipe at late paedophile entertainer Rolf Harris who died at 93

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford has slammed late pedophile entertainer Rolf Harris after his death was announced Tuesday.

Peter appeared live on Sunrise Wednesday to talk to host Natalie Barr about the news, which is making headlines worldwide.

He explained, “It’s a big story, a complicated story, but it won’t lose any sleep over it.”

MailOnline revealed on Tuesday that disgraced Australian star Rolf had died aged 93 after a battle with neck cancer.

The sex offender has already been ‘laid to rest’ after a secret burial.

On May 11, a private ambulance was photographed outside his riverside home in the UK. Two sources close to the family told MailOnline he died up to two weeks ago, but his death was not registered with Windsor and Maidenhead Council until Tuesday.

“Many of us today are conflicted about the way we report this. Because the world isn’t a sadder place that he’s gone, but at the same time we can’t deny the success he had,” Peter said on Sunrise.

“The first story is what he was, a great entertainer and TV star. He was a big star, recording star, he was regarded internationally as one of our great ambassadors. None of that can be denied. Of course, what he became was disgraced,” he added.

He explained: ‘It’s a big story, a complex story, but nobody will lose sleep over it’

The disgraced TV star had been ‘very ill’ with neck cancer since leaving prison six years ago, and lived as a near recluse with his wife in their £5 million riverside mansion in Bray.

In a statement from his lawyer, his family said: ‘Rolf Harris recently passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends and is now buried. They ask you to respect their privacy. No further comment will be made.”

Harris struggled to speak after cancerous tumors grew on his neck after being released from prison in 2017 for a series of sex offenses including children as young as eight. He was tube fed before his death.

MailOnline revealed on Tuesday that disgraced Australian star Rolf had died aged 93 after a battle with neck cancer. The sex offender has already been ‘laid to rest’ after a secret burial

Two sources close to the family told MailOnline he died up to two weeks ago, but his death was not registered with Windsor and Maidenhead Council until Tuesday.

He is survived by his grandson Marlon, 25, daughter Bindi, 59, and wife Alwen, 91, a jeweler and sculptor. She is confined to a wheelchair due to Alzheimer’s disease, but the couple, who married in 1958, lived together with the help of round-the-clock care.

Private investigator, author and former police officer William Merritt, author of the book Rolf Harris: The Truth behind the Trials, told MailOnline that he had last met him in late 2022 and that he was seriously ill. He said, “Rolf has been very ill. When I saw him, he could talk to me. He was there, but he was clearly unwell’.

The Australian-born TV presenter was a family favorite for decades before being convicted of a series of assault charges in June 2014.

Harris struggled to speak after cancerous tumors grew on his neck after being released from prison in 2017 for a series of sex offenses including children as young as eight. He was tube fed before his death

These include one about an eight-year-old signature hunter, two about girls in their early teens, and a catalog of abuse against his daughter’s boyfriend of over 16. He was jailed for five years and nine months after being convicted of 12 sexual assaults between 1968 and 1986.

He was paroled in May 2017 after serving three years behind bars.

Of the 12 convictions, one was overturned on appeal in November 2017, and a jury chose not to convict him in two other cases in the same year.

Best known for hits Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Jake The Peg, as well as a string of children’s TV hits, Harris also famously painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Harris had not spoken publicly since his release from prison in 2017, but he issued a statement in Mr. Merritt’s recently released book Rolf Harris: The Defense Team’s Special Investigator Reveals the Truth Behind the Trials.

“I understand that we live in the post-truth era and know that few will want to know what really happened during the three criminal trials I underwent – it’s easier to judge me and compare me to people like Saville and Glitter,” Harris said.

“I was convicted of crimes I did not commit in my first trial. That is not just my opinion, but the opinion of the Court of Appeal that overturned one of my convictions. I had already served the prison sentence at the time of the appeal.

“I changed my legal team after the first trial, and I was told if the truth was out there, William (Merritt) would find it and he did.

“The evidence he found proved my innocence before two successive juries.

“I would be in jail serving a sentence for crimes I didn’t commit if it weren’t for William’s investigation.

“The injustice I feel is hard to put into words.”

Best known for hits Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Jake The Peg, as well as a string of children’s TV hits, Harris also famously painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Pictured with the Queen and Kylie Minogue in London in 2012