Travis fumbled teen on Top Of The Pops, court told

A POP music fan has told a court how DJ Dave Lee Travis “had a fumble” up her skirt on camera as he presented an edition of Top Of The Pops.
Dave Lee Travis groaned and sighed yesterday as a witness gave her testimony. Picture: GettyDave Lee Travis groaned and sighed yesterday as a witness gave her testimony. Picture: Getty
Dave Lee Travis groaned and sighed yesterday as a witness gave her testimony. Picture: Getty

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was 17 when Travis indecently assaulted her at the BBC studios in Shepherd’s Bush, London, in 1978.

Her friend, also giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court yesterday, said when she watched the episode later that week it appeared the footage had been edited, just as the victim was “grimacing” next to Travis.

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The alleged victim said the two were coaxed to appear on screen next to “big star” Travis as he introduced a record by the Smurfs. It was then that she was assaulted, the court heard.

Giving evidence behind a curtain, the alleged victim said: “He [Travis] put his arm around myself and pulled me towards him. It was cosy on screen.

“Then he slipped his hand down and put it up my skirt

“I can only really describe it as having a fumble of my bottom area. I think he was trying to get into my underwear.”

She said she could not remember how the incident ended.

“I felt violated,” she said. “The main thing is the camera crew was there, in front of all these people – that’s what made it uncomfortable.”

The witness’s friend, who joined the alleged victim on the set, said the footage of them had been edited down by the BBC.

“The introduction to the [next] record was [originally] a lot longer,” the woman said.

Defending, Stephen Vullo asked if she had colluded with her friend to provide false evidence against the DJ.

The woman, who referred to Travis as “the hairy monster” said: “I’m not”.

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She said she would not “waste time coming here to tell a load of lies”, adding that she did not want to come at all “because it’s such a high-profile case”, and said it was both “scary” and “nerve-wracking”.

The witness added: “I asked what she [her friend] wanted to do about it [the alleged fumbling] but felt nobody would really believe what happened.

“He was a big, famous DJ, we were nothing. We decided to go home and say nothing.”

Earlier, a hotel worker at a coastal beauty spot told the court how Travis – also known as DLT during his time as Radio One breakfast show presenter – allegedly indecently assaulted her as she checked him into his room.

The woman said she felt “awful” as Travis began fiddling with her blouse as they took a lift to his room.

Once inside, the veteran DJ – in the North Cornwall town of Bude as part of a Radio One concert – allegedly began to “envelop” her with his arms, rubbing her lower back and bottom. She said the incident lasted “15, 20, 30 seconds, but it seemed to go on forever”.

Asked by prosecutor Miranda Moore, QC, why she did not complain to senior managers or police, the woman said: “I was afraid that Mr Travis was a big star and I would be laughed out of town.

“I was a naive country girl.”

The woman was 18 or 19 when Travis allegedly assaulted her in the 1980s, she said.

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She said she spent the rest of her shift in fear that Travis would confront her.

Both alleged victims said they came forward to police after seeing Travis give a television interview dismissing any involvement in allegations linked to the case of shamed entertainer Jimmy Savile.

Travis, wearing a dark jacket, pink shirt and a tie emblazoned with the word “BLAM”, shook his head, groaned and sighed throughout the evidence.

Travis, 68, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, is charged with 13 counts of indecent assault dating to between 1976 and 2003, and one count of sexual assault in 2008. He denies all charges.

The trial will resume on Monday.

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