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Tuesday, September 23, 2014

DJ Dave Lee Travis faces jail after being found GUILTY of groping TV personality but CLEARED of assault on stage hand - and jury fails to reach verdict on third charge


  • .Former Radio 1 star found guilty of indecently assaulting woman in 1995
  • .The attack happened after he appeared on the Mrs Merton Show
  • .Victim told court she 'froze' as he squeezed her breasts in a corridor 
  • .He is cleared by jury in London of another charge of indecent assault
  • .Jurors were unable to agree a verdict on another charge of sexual assault
  • .Judge says 'all sentencing options are open', including a prison term
  • .CPS have said he faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in jail
  • .He becomes the third celebrity convicted under Operation Yewtree

Veteran BBC broadcaster Dave Lee Travis has been found guilty of indecent assault after groping a top female TV personality's breasts.
The ex-Top of the Pops presenter was cleared on a second charge of the same offence. The jury were unable to agree a verdict on another charge of sexual assault and were discharged.
Travis, 69, had faced a retrial after jurors failed to reach verdicts on two of the charges earlier this year, but was convicted of a new charge which involved an indecent assault behind the scenes at the Mrs Merton Show in 1995.
Judge Anthony Leonard QC warned the former radio star that he was looking at 'all options' when he considered his sentence
The Crown Prosecution Service said the maximum sentence Travis faces is 10 years in prison.  
DJ Dave Lee Travis has been convicted of indecent assault by a jury at Southwark Crown Court
DJ Dave Lee Travis has been convicted of indecent assault by a jury at Southwark Crown Court
Travis, who arrived at court with his his wife Marianne Griffin, became a household name in the 1970s after appearing on Radio 1Travis, who arrived at court with his his wife Marianne Griffin, became a household name in the 1970s after appearing on Radio 1
Travis, who arrived at court with his his wife Marianne Griffin, became a household name in the 1970s after appearing on Radio 1
Wearing dark grey trousers and a light grey blazer, Travis stared straight ahead with a stony expression and held his hands in front of him as the verdicts were read out.
He glanced over his shoulder to his wife Marianne, who sat at the back of Southwark Crown Court, before sitting down.
The jury of six men and six women came to their verdicts after 19 hours and 15 minutes.
Prosecutor Teresa Hay told the court that the Crown would not be seeking a retrial on the count of sexual assault which the jury was hung on, and a formal verdict of not guilty was entered.
The forewoman told the court the jury had found Travis guilty of a single count of indecent assault by a majority of 10 to two. 
Sophie Wood, defending, told the judge they would be asking for Travis to be given a non custodial community order sentence.
She said: 'It is the defence position that we will seek to persuade your honour that this is a community order penalty. That is where we submit it fits. It's the defence position that a pre-sentence report would assist.'
But Judge Leonard said 'all options remain open', including jail.
Travis left the courtroom accompanied by his wife Marianne, who put a protective arm around her husband's back as he left. He declined to comment on the verdict, saying: 'I'm not speaking to anybody right this moment.'
Travis was found guilty of an indecent assault which taken place in January 1995 on a female television personality working on the Mrs Merton Show.
Travis has been told he could face 10 years in jail for the crime, but his defence team said they will argue for a non-custodial sentenceTravis has been told he could face 10 years in jail for the crime, but his defence team said they will argue for a non-custodial sentence
Travis has been told he could face 10 years in jail for the crime, but his defence team said they will argue for a non-custodial sentence
The victim had told a court the woman 'froze' when Travis 'squeezed' her breasts while she was working on the popular programme.
She said he approached her in the corridor of a television studio and put his hands on her chest.
The woman told Travis's trial that the assault in the mid 1990s was 'unbelievably weird' and she thought the former Top Of The Pops presenter, who was booked as a guest on the show, got a 'sexual thrill' from the incident.
The victim, who cannot be named, said: 'I started smoking my cigarette and he came out of his dressing room over to me and said; 'You shouldn't be smoking. Think about your poor little lungs'.
'He started to touch the bottom of my ribcage. Without saying anything else, he slid his hand up to my breasts and then kind of left them there and started squeezing.'
Asked by prosecutor Miranda Moore QC how she felt at the time, the woman replied: 'Shocked. I couldn't believe what was happening. It was just unbelievably weird.
'I had not had any interaction with him. I didn't even know if he knew my name.'
Travis was convicted of an indecent assault on a  production crew member on the Mrs Merton Show. File photo
Travis was convicted of an indecent assault on a production crew member on the Mrs Merton Show. File photo
The woman, who was working as part of the production crew in Manchester, described the assault as a 'squeezing grope'.
'I kind of froze,' she said. 'I was standing there just looking up. I didn't know what to say. I was kind of pinned against the wall.'
The woman, who gave evidence without a screen, in view of Travis in the dock, said he let go of her breasts after 10 or 15 seconds.
Speaking after the trial, Mark Castle, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, said: 'As a charity which helps thousands of victims of indecent assault give evidence every year, we know how much courage it takes someone to face their attacker in court.
'Travis chose to make this even more distressing by accusing his victim of being a liar.
'Today's conviction is a vindication for all victims of indecent assault who were attacked by someone so famous that they feared they would never get justice.
'We hope this verdict will encourage anyone who has been a victim of this crime to seek help.'

THE CASE AGAINST DAVE LEE TRAVIS - THE THREE CHARGES HE FACED AND THE JURY'S VERDICTS 

INDECENT ASSAULT ON MRS MERTON SHOW CREW MEMBER - GUILTY  
A TV personality told how Dave Lee Travis groped her for his 'weird sexual thrill' backstage at the Mrs Merton Show.
Comedian Dave Gorman, who was a writer on the show, said he remembered hearing  that the incident was 'aggressive' and not a  'playful' actShe fled to her boss, BBC producer Peter Kessler, and told him: 'Oh my God, Dave Lee Travis just grabbed my t**ts'.
Comedian Dave Gorman, who was a writer on the show, said he remembered hearing that the incident was 'aggressive' and not a 'playful' act
But no official complaint was ever lodged at the corporation which has come under fire for turning a blind eye to Jimmy Savile's abuse of girls and boys on their premises.
Travis had a reputation for being a 'bit of an octopus' at the BBC studios in Manchester because he had 'hands that go everywhere', the woman said.
She was working on the spoof chat show when the 'Hairy Cornflake' cornered her in the corridor in the mid-1990s.
Seeing the victim, who was in her early 20s at the time, Travis chastised her for smoking.
He told her: 'You shouldn't be smoking think about what it is doing to your poor little lungs'.
Travis then touched her ribcage before sliding his hands up to her breasts in a 'squeezing grope'.
The assault which 'felt like ages' lasted for 10-15 seconds before the 'shaking' victim escaped his clutches.
'It was the weirdest thing that had happened to me,' she said.
Comedian Dave Gorman said he had later heard that Travis had 'grabbed' the woman's breasts.
He told the court: 'My feeling was, if you think back to that time, the idea we'd call the police and say 'Dave Lee Travis grabbed (the woman's) t***', it wouldn't have gone anywhere.'
 
INDECENT ASSAULT ON PANTOMIME STAGE HAND - NOT GUILTY 
Travis was accused of assaulting a stage hand at the Hawth theatre in Crawley, West Sussex, where he was playing Aladdin's evil uncle, Abanazar, in a pantomime in 1990.
The crew member said he pinned her to a door and 'engulfed' her, touching her 'from top to toe' as he towered over her.
She told how she felt 'shaken up', 'humiliated' and 'scared' after being cornered by the former DJ.
The Chuckle Brothers, real names are Paul and Barry Elliott, said they had not heard about the claims
The Chuckle Brothers, real names are Paul and Barry Elliott, said they had not heard about the claims
The Chuckle Brothers, who shared the bill alongside Travis in the production, said they had never heard about the alleged attack.
The comedy duo, whose real names are Paul and Barry Elliott, said it was a complete shock when the allegations later emerged.
Paul Elliott told the jury: 'The first that I heard about it was in the newspapers and it was a complete shock.'
He also dismissed claims that female staff had to be chaperoned around the venue and were advised to stay away from Travis's room.
He said: '[I] never saw anything like that. We were sharing the bill and we would have been told of anything that was going on.'
Travis was cleared by the jury of this charge.
The pair starred alongside Travis at the Hawth theatre in Crawley, West Sussex, at the time of one alleged assault, which Travis was cleared of today
The pair starred alongside Travis at the Hawth theatre in Crawley, West Sussex, at the time of one alleged assault, which Travis was cleared of today
 
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER REPORTER - JURY FAILED TO REACH A VERDICT, NOT GUILTY VERDICT RECORDED  
A national newspaper reporter told the how Travis grabbed her breasts after pestering her strip off for a photo shoot at his home.
Travis was said to have invited the 24-year-old to his home to reminisce about a Radio 1 Christmas party with stars including Jimmy Savile and John Peel, for a nostalgia feature.
He allegedly told the young woman she had a 'good figure' during his first attempt at persuading her to pose for a 'tacky' picture.
When Travis again tried to talk her into a photo shoot, she desperately tried to put him off by blurting out 'my boobs are not big enough'.
The woman claimed Travis then kept his hands on her breasts for four seconds before pulling them away and carried on as if nothing had happened.
She added that she could 'see it in his eyes' before Travis groped her, and that he 'took his chance'.
The jury failed to reach a verdict on this charge and a not guilty verdict will be recorded.
Quack quack oops! Catchphrases and a larger-than-life personality that dominated Radio 1's 'Smashie and Nicey' years
Travis was part of a generation of Radio 1 DJs whose fame almost eclipsed that of the artists whose music they played
Travis was part of a generation of Radio 1 DJs whose fame almost eclipsed that of the artists whose music they played
With his quirky catchphrases and over-the-top personality, Dave Lee Travis came to personify Radio 1 in its heyday when it pulled in massive audiences and its DJs were almost as famous as the artists whose records they played.
DLT - real name David Patrick Griffin - learned his trade in clubs and on pirate radio as well as a stint touring the United States with Herman's Hermits before joining the BBC in the late 1960s.
Dubbed the Hairy Cornflake as a result of the hirsute presenter's stint on the Radio 1 breakfast show, he was a fixture on the station for more than two decades and a regular on Top Of The Pops (TOTP).
The larger-than-life star, who drove a yellow pontiac he called the Flying Banana, even had a hit single of his own when his version of the trucking song Convoy GB, attributed to Laurie Lingo And The Dipsticks, was a top five hit in 1976.
It was a parody of CW McCall's hit which had been in the charts just weeks earlier and saw him guesting on TOTP himself, dressed as a superhero with his face covered.
But by the early 1990s, audiences for Radio 1 were falling and plans to bring in a new generation of DJs - who would bring a new generation of listeners with them - were under way, with controller Matthew Bannister wielding the axe for many familiar voices thought to be out of step with the plan to appeal to younger audiences.
Travis, complete with his 'quack, quack, oops' catchphrase and gimmicks including the snooker on the radio game, was seen as old-fashioned and was being parodied on a weekly basis by Harry Enfield with his Smashie and Nicey characters.
The characters, which lampooned Travis as 'BLT - the Hairy Sandwich', reflected the view that Radio 1 and its veteran presenters were falling behind the times.
DLT jumped before he was pushed when he famously quit Radio 1 live on air in 1993, telling listeners that 'changes are being made here that go against my principles and I just cannot agree with them'.
He kept working, with stints on stations including Classic Gold, Garrison Radio and Spectrum FM, but did not leave the BBC entirely.
His programme A Jolly Good Show stayed on the World Service until 2001 and in 2011 an unlikely fan emerged in the shape of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Travis was first arrested in October 2012 under Operation Yewtree, Scotland Yard's investigation into historic sexual abuse in the wake of allegations against the late DJ Jimmy Savile
Travis was first arrested in October 2012 under Operation Yewtree, Scotland Yard's investigation into historic sexual abuse in the wake of allegations against the late DJ Jimmy Savile
She told the Radio Times that the request show helped make her 'world much more complete' when she listened to it during her years under house arrest.
The DJ was even introduced to the campaigning politician when she visited Broadcasting House in 2012.
Along with his love of broadcasting, Travis has also spoken of his passion for photography.   
In his private life, Travis married Swedish girlfriend Marianne in 1971.
The couple reared pigs and chickens in the home counties, with Marianne often accompanying Travis to his guest appearances and DJ slots.
The court was told his arrest and subsequent court cases have left him facing financial ruin and have forced him to sell his house
Although happily married, during his first trial Travis admitted that he had given in to 'temptation' more than once during his career, as he enjoyed the celebrity status being a Radio 1 DJ afforded him.
During his two trials, both defence and prosecution witnesses alike described the 6ft 1in-tall defendant as a 'gentle giant' and 'larger than life' character who enjoyed giving bear hugs to all he met.
When asked to describe himself during the first case, he told jurors to much amusement: 'I have never said, in my life, that I am a sex symbol. No, I am a big, hairy, cuddly bear.'
Jurors heard that Travis's career dramatically ground to a halt when he was arrested in October 2012, with his defence barrister Stephen Vullo QC saying the former star was 'finished' and his reputation 'totally ruined'.
He has also faced financial ruin and sold his house in order to pay private investigators to help in his defence case.
Mr Vullo said the fact that Travis had been investigated by officers from Operation Yewtree - the inquiry set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal - had put him under a 'massive intrusive microscope'.
'Anybody that's ever had anything against him at all has really had the opportunity in the last two years to tell Operation Yewtree all about it,' he added.

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