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Dave Lee Travis given three-month suspended sentence for assault Dave Lee Travis given three-month suspended sentence for assault
(35 minutes later)
Dave Lee Travis, the former BBC Radio 1 DJ, has been given a three-month suspended sentence for indecently assaulting a woman in 1995. Dave Lee Travis, the former BBC Radio 1 DJ, has been given a three-month suspended sentence after being convicted for indecently assaulting a woman in 1995 during the making of a TV programme.
Travis, 69, was convicted on Tuesday by a majority jury verdict. Appearing under his real name, David Griffin, he was found not guilty of another indecent assault charge, and the jury at Southwark crown court was unable to reach a verdict on a charge of sexual assault. While the judge told Travis he “took advantage of a young woman in a vulnerable position”, after the hearing the 69-year-old insisted he was innocent, saying he always feared that “if the prosecution threw enough mud at me, some of it might stick”.
Travis was convicted on Tuesday by a majority jury verdict. Appearing under his real name, David Griffin, he was found not guilty of another indecent assault charge, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge of sexual assault.
The latter two charges were being retried after a jury was unable to reach verdicts on these and other similar allegations at an initial trial in February.The latter two charges were being retried after a jury was unable to reach verdicts on these and other similar allegations at an initial trial in February.
The charge on which Travis was convicted did not feature in the first trial. It was committed in January 1995 against a young woman working on the BBC’s Mrs Merton Show. The victim told the court that Travis seemed to get a “weird sexual thrill” from the incident. The charge on which Travis was convicted – which did not feature in the first trial – involved an assault in January 1995 against a woman, then aged 22, who was working on the BBC’s Mrs Merton Show.
The woman, who was in her early 20s at the time and was part of the production crew, said Travis approached her in the corridor of a BBC television studio as she was smoking and commented on her “poor little lungs”, before he squeezed her breasts. Sentencing Travis, who was wearing a dark suit and white shirt, judge Anthony Leonard QC said the offence was worthy of a custodial sentence, but took the decisions to suspend a three-month sentence after considering the health and financial impact of the two trials on the former DJ.
She said the assault, in which she was pinned against a wall by Travis for 10 to 15 seconds, was “unbelievably weird”, and that the DJ had an “intense stare” throughout. She told the court she did not make a complaint or contact police because she was young and did not want to make a fuss. He described the assault, saying Travis had approached the woman, who was in her first job after university, while she was having a cigarette. He said Travis had told her to consider her lungs, while sliding his hands up her chest on onto her breasts, which he squeezed. Leonard told Travis: “When you gave evidence you described what she was alleging took place was a nasty thing to do – you were right in your assumption, but it was more than that, it was an unpleasant and intentional sexual assault.”
She gave evidence without a screen, in view of Travis in the dock, and said she had spoken in public about the assault. He added: “You took advantage of a young woman in a vulnerable position whose job it was to look after you [...] I judge that you believed she would not make a fuss and you were right about that too.
Giving his own evidence, the former Top of the Pops presenter denied all charges, telling jurors the women involved had been lying. He also called on several other defence witnesses to testify to his good character. “In my judgment the aggravating feature in this case is the disparity in your age and status compared to that of the victim which made her vulnerable to your advances.”
Travis’s defence barrister, Stephen Vullo QC, said he had been described during the trial as the “perfect gentleman” and nothing like the “sleazy, predatory opportunist” that prosecutors had accused him of being. Standing to hear the sentence, Travis made no reaction but to say, “Thank you your honour”.
In her victim impact statement the woman said she was hurt by Travis’s depiction of her in court as a liar. Before the sentencing Travis turned around and banged on the window of the dock to get the attention of Sunday Times journalist Camilla Long, who this week claimed that the former DJ had also groped her. He told her to move from the public gallery, saying: “You are making me uncomfortable”. When Long indicted that there were no available seats in the press gallery, he shouted over to the press gallery saying: “Will someone give her a seat?”
“Being called a liar and fantasist and being forced to recall the evidence in court has been painful,” it said. Speaking outside the court in front of a scrum of reporters and photographers, Travis delivered a short, unrepentant, statement, standing next to his wife, Marianne. “Two years ago I was accused out of the blue of being a sexual predator. Never before that date had anyone ever suggested to me that I had committed any crime whatsoever,” he said. “After millions of pounds of tax payers money, thousands of hours of police resources, the judge accepted today that the crown had failed to prove their case against me, namely that I was a sexual predator.”
“I was particularly hurt by the defendant’s claim that financial greed motivated me to come forward. I have preserved my anonymity and will not claim compensation now or in the future. I simply wanted to tell the truth.” Travis said that he had “always been worried that if the prosecution threw enough mud at me, some of it might stick”. He added: “I am mortified and I am really disappointed that I was convicted of one count, and it’s of little comfort to me that I was acquitted of so many others.” He added that he had the support of his family, adding “and we all know the truth”.
The woman described the effects of the assault: “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. Earlier, the court heard a victim statement in which the woman said she was “a naive and trusting 22-year-old when I was subjected to an unprovoked and terrifying assault”.
“I was too paralysed with fear to confront my assailant.” The victim said she felt “lucky that I was psychologically robust enough to deal with the distress” and said she had used humour as a defence.
The victim said she felt lucky she was resilient enough to get on with her life “thanks largely to my colleagues”. But she said reliving the event, which happened 19 years ago, had been upsetting and said it was “particularly horrifying” to be called a liar and for it to be suggested that she was looking for financial gain.
She added: “I coped with it by using humour. But remembering the incident still takes me back to feeling like a scared, vulnerable young woman. “I have sought to preserve my anonymity,” said the victim in a statement, adding that she had no intention of trying to make financial gain from the trial. “I simply wanted to tell the truth and was prepared to go through this unpleasant process to that end.”
Travis, wearing a blue jacket, grey shirt and red and yellow tie, and accompanied by his wife, Marianne, stood in the dock and stared at the ground after the statement was read out. Stephen Vullo QC, defending Travis, said the two trials had already cost the former DJ £350,000 and he and his wife had been forced to sell their family home. They had moved into a smaller house bought with her proceeds from the sale, and the DJ had not been able to work for the past two years “for obvious reasons”.
Sentencing Travis the judge, Anthony Leonard QC, 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.”
Travis looked at the floor and replied: “Thank you, your honour,” after the judge passed sentence.
The investigation into Travis was part of Operation Yewtree, the inquiry set up two years ago after the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. Travis has consistently protested his innocence since he was arrested at his home in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, in November 2012.The investigation into Travis was part of Operation Yewtree, the inquiry set up two years ago after the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. Travis has consistently protested his innocence since he was arrested at his home in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, in November 2012.
Among the witnesses was the comedian Dave Gorman, who was a writer on the Mrs Merton show at the time. H said he remembered hearing about the incident as “aggressive” and not a “playful” act.
“My recollection was everyone in the team would have known,” he said. “This was office gossip to some extent.” He added: “I recall discussions and questions about whether it had been a sort of ‘Carry On-film wahey’, which might be playful albeit ill-judged, or whether it was aggressive. My recollection was it was aggressive.”