Harris stripped of honours as purge begins

THE 84-year-old is being stripped of honours, his artwork pulled from walls and plans are underway to tear up public monuments celebrating the disgraced entertainer.

Harris was on Monday found guilty of indecently assaulting four girls - one of whom was as young as seven or eight - in the UK between 1968 and 1986.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was "gutted and dismayed", saying it was "sad and tragic" that a person so admired seemed to have been a perpetrator of abuse.

Within hours of the unanimous decision, Harris had lost his place in the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2008 for his contribution to music.

He has also been stripped of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Fellowship he was awarded two years ago and will likely lose his CBE from the Queen. Harris could also be stripped of his Order of Australia. The governor-general can strip recipients of their awards if they've been convicted of a crime under Australian or foreign law.

His fall from grace is being particularly hard felt on his home turf in Perth.

The school where "The Boy from Bassendean" was first inspired to pick up a paint brush was swift to decide several of his artworks would be removed from the walls.

Perth Modern School, where Harris was a student from 1943 to 1947, doesn't yet know what it will do with them.

The Town of Bassendean, where Harris was born, is considering stripping him of special status as a freeman of the town.

It is also considering digging up a footpath plaque outside his childhood home and removing his paintings from council chambers.

A photo portrait of Harris was removed from the chambers in May.

"These are heinous crimes. All privileges should be stripped from Mr Harris," Bassendean Mayor John Gangell told ABC radio.

"My personal view would be to strip all association from the Town of Bassendean to Mr Harris."

City of Perth Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the council would likely tear up a footpath plaque on St Georges Terrace that commemorates Harris.

Perth's Edith Cowan University will discuss at its next council meeting in August whether to rescind an honorary doctorate awarded to Harris in 2000, but has already removed his artworks from display.

"It is my judgement it is what the university community would want me to do and it is what I believe is the right course of action," vice chancellor Kerry Cox said.

For Harris' victims, the verdict has brought to an end a stressful period of reliving memories.

One of them was former Perth radio host Jane Marwick, who recently revealed Harris had groped her breast while posing for a photo after a 2001 radio interview.

"It's been a very stressful month since I spoke out," she said.

"I cannot imagine what it's been like for the victims. It must have been the most horrendously gruelling time for them."

Harris is likely to be jailed on Friday.