Monday, January 27, 2014

Travis denies 'predatory nature'

Dave Lee Travis tells court he is 'cuddly' not 'predatory'

Dave Lee Travis arriving at court on Monday

Former BBC DJ Dave Lee Travis has told a court he does not have a "predatory nature".

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Travis said: "What I have is a cuddly nature with women. So maybe that's what this is all about."

He also told the jury if he knew Jimmy Savile was a paedophile, he would have "been the first to get him arrested".

Mr Travis, 68, of Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, denies sexual assault and 13 counts of indecent assault.

Answering questions about Savile posed by his defence barrister Stephen Vullo, he said: "He was always surrounded by girls and by that I mean girls of 16, 17, 18.

"But I don't think that anyone knew what was going on as far as him being a paedophile.

"In all honesty, if I had known that Jimmy Savile was a paedophile I would have been the first to get him arrested because it is the worst crime in the world as far as I am concerned."

Mr Travis is accused of indecently assaulting 10 women and sexually assaulting another.

The court heard that, in an interview with police on 18 September, Mr Travis - also known as DLT - dismissed the claims as "crap".

Junior prosecutor Teresa Hay said: "Mr Travis said that for 10 months he had lost his money, work, his health, he has had back and knee operations and had suffered stress.

"Worse still, his wife had suffered breast cancer.

"She was through it now but stress is bad for someone who is going through that."

'Full of anger'

He told police the allegations were "costing him his job, his living and everything he has built up over 50 years", Ms Hay added.

"For him these allegations don't stand up. He and his wife had suffered badly."

She said he had told police "he has been screwed backwards - he is selling his house to pay for solicitors and barristers".

"People might think he is a millionaire but his bank account is non-existent.

"His life has changed for the worse and he is full of anger - even if he is acquitted he still won't be free."

She said Mr Travis told police about one person who made allegations against him: "This is just someone else who can smell money and is jumping into the game to see what they can get out of it."

'Won keys'

The jury heard Mr Travis had been questioned over claims he groped a woman at two separate British Airways staff parties in the early 1990s after dancing the Lambada with her on both occasions.

He told police that, while he could not remember the particular events, he would provide musical entertainment or compere at such parties, sometimes dressed as a werewolf or Darth Vader.

When asked about claims he told the woman she had "won the keys to his room" he said it was not the kind of thing he would say.

A journalist working for a German broadcaster later told the court Mr Travis had touched her bottom when she interviewed him at his house in 2005.

He had shown her a flight simulator game he enjoyed playing on his computer, she said.

"What happened was then he asked me if I wanted to take over," she added.

"Then I found myself standing right in front of him - I don't particularly remember whether I actually started anything."

'Uncomfortable moment'

The journalist said he put "his hand behind me on my shoulders and ran it down my back and rested it on the right cheek of my bum".

It was "an extremely uncomfortable moment" and she "very quickly" moved away, she said.

She told the jury she did not speak to police at the time of the arrest but had made a statement after she heard about it.

The offences of which Mr Travis is accused allegedly took place while he was working as a BBC radio DJ, on Classic Gold radio, on BBC One's Top Of The Pops, and in pantomime.

He is being tried under his real name David Patrick Griffin.


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