Dave Lee Travis faces retrial over sex charges - including one new count of indecent assault


Dave Lee Travis has spoken of his frustration after learning he faces a re-trial for alleged sex crimes - including one new count of indecent assault.

The former Radio One DJ said he had been stripped of his "dignity" during the Operation Yewtree investigation, which was launched by police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

Travis was acquitted of 12 counts of indecent assault earlier this year but jurors were unable to reach verdicts on one other charge of indecent assault dating back to the early 1990s and one of sexual assault in mid to late 2008. He will now face a fresh trial over them.

He also formally pleaded not guilty to one additional count of indecent assault on a woman aged over 16 alleged to have taken place on January 17 1995.

Speaking after a hearing at Southwark Crown Court today, the 69-year-old criticised the Crown Prosecution Service's decision to keep him on bail for two years.

He said: "I know there's no such thing as innocent until proven guilty. I know for a fact that isn't true.

"In my estimation the CPS has overcompensated for its failings with Savile and is taking away the human rights and dignity of individuals by having police arrest people first and then go out looking for evidence while that person is on bail.

"In my case I have been on bail for two years. This is entirely unacceptable."

Travis, who is charged under his real name of David Griffin, wore a pastel grey jacket, black trousers, white shirt and turquoise tie at today's court appearance.

Hand in hand with his wife of 43 years Marianne, he told reporters on the court steps that the case had damaged his reputation "irreparably".

He said he had spent the couple's pension defending himself, adding that his wife's health had suffered as a result of the allegations against him.

He said: "My wife Marianne, who I've been married to for 43 years and I love very much, has had breast cancer. I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me, I'm just stating fact.

"What is the worst thing someone with breast cancer can go through - stress.

"Think what two years of this has done to me and Marianne and our friends."

He continued: "A lot of people will say 'oh he's had to pay out all this money, so what? He's rich, he's a disc jockey, he's famous, he's a millionaire'.

"If I was a millionaire I would not have had to sell my house to fund this case, that would never have happened. That was our pension.

"But I'm not moaning about the money - that's not what's important. It's the law that's important.

"This has done a lot to damage my reputation. It might be irreparable, for all I know."

Travis called for changes to the legal system once his case has concluded.

He said: "My life has changed. I will say I'm bitter with the way some people have been dealt with.

"People like Freddie Starr - look at what it did to him and he was not even charged.

"Whatever happens after all this I'm going to go to the highest office in the land in law and I will talk about changes I believe and a lot of other people believe should be made as soon as possible."

Judge Anthony Leonard QC adjourned the case for a trial due to start on September 1.