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Dave Lee Travis given suspended sentence | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been given a suspended sentence of three months for indecently assaulting a woman in 1995. | |
The 69-year-old had been found guilty of attacking a researcher who was working on TV's Mrs Merton Show. | The 69-year-old had been found guilty of attacking a researcher who was working on TV's Mrs Merton Show. |
Judge Anthony Leonard told Travis: "It was an intentional and unpleasant sexual assault." | |
Travis, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, had been cleared of a 1990 indecent assault and a 2008 sexual assault. | |
He was being retried for these latter two charges after jurors could not reach a verdict on them at a trial earlier this year, during which he was cleared of 12 indecent assault charges. | He was being retried for these latter two charges after jurors could not reach a verdict on them at a trial earlier this year, during which he was cleared of 12 indecent assault charges. |
Travis, a former Top Of The Pops presenter, cornered the woman in the corridor of a BBC television studio where she was smoking and commented on her "poor little lungs" before squeezing her breasts for 10 to 15 seconds. | |
'Painful' process | |
In a victim impact statement, which was read out at London's Southwark Crown Court ahead of his sentencing, the victim said: "I was a naive and trusting 22-year-old when I was subjected to an unprovoked and terrifying physical assault at my place of work. | |
"I was too paralysed with fear to confront my assailant." | |
The woman said she felt "lucky" that she was "physically resilient" enough to get on with her life "thanks largely to my colleagues". | |
She said the process of remembering the incident still took her back to "feeling like a scared, vulnerable young woman". | |
"Being called a liar and fantasist and being forced to recall the evidence in court has been painful," she said. | |
The woman, who chose to retain her anonymity, told the court that she would not claim compensation "now or in the future". | |
"I simply wanted to tell the truth," she said. | |
Judge Leonard - who suspended Travis's sentence for two years - said: "It was an intentional and unpleasant sexual assault. | |
"You took advantage of a young woman in a vulnerable position whose job it was to look after you that day." | |
After the judge passed sentence, Travis glanced at the floor and replied: "Thank you, your honour." | |
On Tuesday, the jury at Southwark Crown Court found Travis not guilty of the 1990 indecent assault and could not reach a verdict over the sexual assault charge. | |
Travis, who was tried under his real name David Griffin, appeared on BBC Radio 1 for more than 25 years until 1993 and was a regular host of Top of the Pops. | Travis, who was tried under his real name David Griffin, appeared on BBC Radio 1 for more than 25 years until 1993 and was a regular host of Top of the Pops. |