Chuckle Brothers' 'shock' at Dave Lee Travis sex assault claims

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/12/chuckle-brothers-dave-lee-travis-trial

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One of the Chuckle Brothers has said it was a "complete shock" to hear claims that DJ Dave Lee Travis had indecently assaulted a stagehand in a pantomime they all starred in.

The comedy duo, whose real names are Paul and Barry Elliott, shared the bill alongside Travis in Aladdin in 1990 when the alleged incident is said to have happened, Southwark crown court in London heard.

Travis, 69, who is charged under his real name, David Griffin, denies two counts of indecent assault and one of sexual assault.

Paul Elliott told the jury that he had never heard claims that Travis had been inappropriate with anyone. "Never at all," he said. "The first that I heard about it was in the newspapers and it was a complete shock."

He also dismissed suggestions that female staff had to be chaperoned and were advised to stay away from Travis's room. "Never saw anything like that. We were sharing the bill and we would have been told of anything that was going on," he said.

One of Travis's alleged victims said the former Radio 1 and Top of the Pops presenter had been interrupted by the Chuckle Brothers during the alleged assault, the prosecution has claimed.

Stephen Vullo QC, defending, asked if Paul Elliott had seen a stagehand leave Travis's room. The comedian replied: "I certainly do not recall anything untoward from anyone coming out of his room. I never saw anything or had any suspicions."

Asked if there had been a policy for women not to go to Travis' room, he said: "No, and if there had it is something I would remember."

He stated that Travis "seemed to get on with everybody, we got on with him and he got on with everybody else". The Chuckle Brothers were appearing as police officers.

Travis faces a retrial on two counts – one of indecent assault of a woman between 1 November 1990 and 31 January 1991, and another of sexual assault on a different woman between 1 June 2008 and 30 November 2008, on which a jury was unable to reach verdicts at a trial earlier this year.

Travis, of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, has pleaded not guilty to an additional count of indecent assault alleged to have taken place on 17 January 1995.

Earlier, Dee Dee Wilde, a member of Pan's People, the Top of the Pops dance troupe, told the jury Travis was a professional "lovable big bear of a man" whereas Jimmy Savile was "a rather nasty man".

A Radio 1 DJ up to 1993, Travis was a regular Top of the Pops host and a contemporary of Savile. Wilde said the dancers attracted a lot of male attention and even suffered bruised bottoms after relentlessly being pinched on a trip to Madrid.

Vullo asked: "From what you know of Mr Travis, did he fall in to the category of a man who thought it was OK to pinch?"

Wilde replied: "Absolutely not. In fact, you felt safe with Dave."

In contrast, when recalling Savile, she said: "I felt totally uncomfortable in the presence of Jimmy Savile and so did the other girls as well. He used to come up to you too close, but you had to work with him because he did a lot of the shows."

Wilde, who set up Pan's People, which ran from 1968-76, told the jury that in those days the dancers sometimes put up with the odd "very flirtatious" man who thought they could "try it on and so would try it on".

Having your bottom pinched was "just the norm – it happened all the time", she said. She told the jury: "I remember we went to Madrid and had a police escort and by the time we reached the stage our bottoms were black and blue because the police were pinching them all the time. It was a different time to now. It was different things that seemed acceptable."

Wilde said of Travis: "I liked him tremendously. He was a lovely man and a great guy and very funny as well. I did not see him do anything inappropriate in all the years I have known Dave."

Asked if she had seen him do anything sleazy, Wilde added: "If that had been the case he would not have been my friend."

Gaynor Burton, who played the Princess in Aladdin when one of the alleged assaults was said to have taken place, explained that she was not aware of any complaint about Travis and had not been told to avoid his dressing room.

She said if she had been sexually assaulted by a cast member, even if they were a well-known star such as Travis, she would have reported it and would not have been scared to do. She said: "I do not remember anything odd at all; it was a nice company."

And of Travis, she said: "He was very friendly. He is a gentle giant, very fun and a true professional."

The hearing was adjourned until 2pm on Monday.