- Title: UNITED KINGDOM/FILE: Ex BBC DJ, lauded by Suu Kyi, in court on sex charges
- Date: 23rd August 2013
- Summary: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SHOT 10 CONTAINS OBSCENE LANGUAGE LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (AUGUST 23, 2013) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) WESTMINSTER MAGISTRATES COURT AND REPORTERS OUTSIDE SCRUM OF PHOTOGRAPHERS AND CAMERA CREW AROUND DAVE LEE TRAVIS (KNOWN AS DLT) DLT ASKING PHOTOGRAPHERS TO STAND BACK CROWD OF PHOTOGRAPHERS AND CAMERA CREWS SURROUNDING DLT (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVE LEE TRAVIS, SAYING (AFTER BEING ASKED 'WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL THE COURT?': "I don't know what the court wants to know from me so I can't answer that question, I am sorry. Look, I have to go in, I am due and I don't want to be late." PHOTOGRAPHERS AND CAMERA CREW SURROUNDING DLT AS HE WALKS INTO COURT WESTMINSTER MAGISTRATES COURT SIGN COAT OF ARMS ABOVE COURT SIGN REPORTERS STANDING OUTSIDE COURT DAVE LEE TRAVIS (DLT) LEAVING COURT AND SAYING HE DOES NOT WANT TO COMMENT / PHOTOGRAPHERS CROWD AROUND HIM (EDITORS NOTE: OBSCENE LANGUAGE CAN BE HEARD) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVE LEE TRAVIS, SAYING: "Don't push, please don't push. I will say one thing. I am supported by my wife and my friends and my wife is not here today and the reason she is not here today is because I detest hare coursing. OK? Thank you for your time." VARIOUS OF DLT WALKING TOWARDS TAXI SURROUNDED BY CROWD OF PHOTOGRAPHERS AND CAMERA CREWS POLICE STANDING NEARBY AS TAXI LEAVES
- Embargoed: 7th September 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Crime,Entertainment,Environment / Natural World
- Reuters ID: LVA4ROOTAUCXMD6JYL6D625AV5N5
- Story Text: A former BBC radio disc jockey, praised by Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi for keeping her spirits up during her years of house arrest, appears in court in London to face numerous sex crimes charges.
A former BBC radio presenter, who was hailed by Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi for entertaining her over the airwaves during her years in captivity, arrived at a London court on Friday (August 23) to face numerous sex crimes over a 30-year period.
Dave Lee Travis (DLT), 68, once one of the best known DJs in Britain, is accused of 11 counts of indecent assault and one sexual assault on women, including a 15-year-old girl, between 1977 and 2007.
He is the latest celebrity to be accused of sex offences since detectives launched a massive inquiry into the late BBC TV host Jimmy Savile.
Savile was one of Britain's biggest stars in the 1970s and 1980s but since his 2011 death, police have discovered he had committed sex crimes on an unprecedented scale.
The inquiry has led to the arrests of a number of household British TV and radio names from that time, although most, like Travis, were not said to be directly involved in Savile's offences, which spanned six decades from 1955.
After he was arrested in March this year, Travis, who most recently was working for Magic AM radio station, said he strongly denied all the accusations against him and said his reputation had been "tarnished and dragged through the mud".
Nicknamed the "Hairy Cornflake" for his bushy beard, Travis said last year he was astonished to learn that Suu Kyi had been a big fan of his weekly show on the BBC World Service during her 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010.
She singled out his music request programme "A Jolly Good Show" for making her world "much more complete".
Following a short hearing DLT left court and was mobbed by photographers and camera crews. He didn't want to comment on the case but did say he had the support of his family.
"I will say one thing. I am supported by my wife and my friends and my wife is not here today and the reason she is not here today is because I detest hare coursing," he said meaning he did not want his wife to have to face the scrum of reporters.
Westminster Magistrates Court bailed DLT until September 6, when he will appear at Southwark Crown Court. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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