Dave Lee Travis Trial: Jury Able To Give Majority Verdict

DLT Jury Can Give Majority Verdict
British Disc Jockey Dave Lee Travis arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014. Dave Lee Travis returns to the witness box Tuesday to fight allegations that he indecently assaulted 10 women and sexually assaulted another. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
British Disc Jockey Dave Lee Travis arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014. Dave Lee Travis returns to the witness box Tuesday to fight allegations that he indecently assaulted 10 women and sexually assaulted another. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jurors in the trial of veteran DJ Dave Lee Travis have been given a majority direction, meaning that they can now offer verdicts if at least 10 of them are agreed.

The former Top Of The Pops presenter is charged with indecently assaulting 10 women and sexually assaulting another in alleged incidents dating back to 1976 and the height of his fame.

The 12 jurors retired to deliberate on the 14 charges on Monday and after telling Judge Anthony Leonard today that they have so far failed to reach unanimous verdicts, he told them he would take verdicts on which at least 10 of them are agreed.

The four-week trial at London's Southwark Crown Court has heard that Travis, now 68, is alleged to have been an "opportunist" who assaulted "vulnerable" young woman while working as a disc jockey, acting in pantomimes and even at the opening of a hospital radio station.

Travis is accused of groping a teenager in his Radio 1 studio in Broadcasting House as he presented a show and of subjecting 15-year-old girl to a "sustained sexual attack" at a Showaddywaddy concert in 1978.

Travis, known as DLT, is also alleged to have assaulted a teenage music fan during an episode of Top Of The Pops.

The woman, who was 17 at the time, said Travis "had a fumble" up her skirt as he presented a segment at the BBC studios in Shepherd's Bush in 1978.

He is also alleged to have assaulting a British Airways worker on two occasions when he hosted corporate events for the airline in the 1990s.

The woman, who was 23 at the time, said Travis singled her out on the dancefloor and made her dance the lambada with him.

She said he became aroused as he pressed against her.

She told jurors she was horrified when he appeared at the company's Christmas party a month later where he made her sit on his knee and put his hand inside her knickers.

More recent allegations include that he groped female colleagues when he worked at Classic Gold radio in the early 2000s, while the sexual assault count relates to him allegedly grabbing the breasts of a journalist who interviewed him at his home in 2008.

Giving his own evidence, Travis - on trial under his birth name David Griffin - told jurors that he was not a "sexual predator" and the claims against him were "nonsensical".

"I do not have a predatory nature with women, I have a cuddly nature. Maybe that's what this is all about, but I am not predatory," he said.

Travis also said he would have reported Jimmy Savile to police if he had known the television star was a paedophile, but denied the two had ever been close.

The defendant was supported by a host of defence witnesses, including Chuckle Brothers Barry and Paul Elliott, Patricia "Dee Dee" Wilde of Top Of The Pops dance troupe Pan's People, and former colleagues at the BBC and elsewhere.

Travis's wife Marianne has been in court to support him since the jury retired to consider its verdicts on Monday.

Travis, from Buckinghamshire, is charged with 13 counts of indecent assault dating between 1976 and 2002, and one count of sexual assault in 2008.

He was arrested under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree, which was prompted by abuse allegations involving Savile.

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