Dave Lee Travis: 'The nightmare goes on' says DJ as he faces second trial on charges of indecent and sexual assault

 
Dave Lee Travis arrives at Southwark Crown Court with his wife Picture: Jeremy Selwyn
DLT AND HIS WIFE ARRIVE AT SOUTHWARK CROWN COURT TODAY PICTURE JEREMY SELWYN 24/02/2014
24 February 2014
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Veteran TV and radio presenter Dave Lee Travis must face a retrial on charges of indecent and sexual assault, a court heard today.

The former Radio 1 disc jockey was cleared earlier this month of 12 counts of indecent assault on nine women dating back to the mid-1970s.

But jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a further count of indecent assault and one charge of sexual assault on two other alleged victims.

These are the two charges he will face in the second trial which is expected to last just over two weeks on a date to be fixed.

Travis struck a forlorn figure in the dock at Southwark Crown Court as prosecutor Miranda Moore QC announced the decision to press for a re-trial.

He had a face of thunder shortly before the hearing started when he passed reporters outside court after being informed of a decision in a side room with his legal team.

During the 10 minute hearing in court he leant back in his chair against the wall of the dock dressed in a black suit and shirt and mauve tie looking upset, sad and frustrated.

Travis, charged under his real name David Griffin, will return to court on March 28 for a half day pre-trial hearing.

The two outstanding counts allege an assault when Travis was appearing in a pantomime in the early 1990s.

The second count involves a woman journalist who says Travis assaulted her in 2008.

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In the short hearing today Ms Moore told the court: “I can tell the court that the prosecution will be seeking a retrial on the two outstanding counts”

She said that inquiries were still proceeding and she would keep the court authorities informed so they could fix a date for the second trial.

“Our view is that the prosecution case would not last more than one week and the defence feels its case will last the same length of time. With time for jury’s consideration it will take it to a trial of just over two weeks and that is the position at the moment,” she said.

Stephen Vullo, defending, said: “We found out the answer (about the re-trial) this morning a few minutes before coming into court.”

Judge Anthony Leonard QC, who will preside over the second trial as well as the first hearing, told Travis: “You are to return to court on March 28 and you are re-admitted to bail as before.”

The veteran broadcaster, who has maintained his innocence ever since his arrest, said he had been through “a year and a half of hell” after he was found not guilty in the first trial.

“I am not over the moon about any of this today. I don’t feel there is a victory in any way shape or form,” he said outside court standing beside his wife Marianne.

DLT said outside court: “I told you that I had been through 18 months of a nightmare. But I was wrong because the nightmare is now going on.

“It started when I was 67 and I just hope it is going to end by the time I’m 80.”

The not guilty verdicts, following just days after the acquittal of Coronation Street star William Roche on sex charges raised questions for the police and Crown Prosecution Service which had been accused by Travis’s lawyers of mounting a “celebrity witch hunt” in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, denied the CPS was over compensating for past failures.

“If we took to court only cases where, on the papers, we were certain of a conviction, we would rightly be accused of being over cautious. Justice can only be done if prosecutors remain independent and fair regardless of whom a defendant might be.”

Travis had arrived in court with wife Marianne and a group of friends and supporters including Margaret Merritt, the singer formerly of 1970s pop group Pickettywitch.

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