Showing posts with label former. Show all posts
Showing posts with label former. Show all posts

Saturday, 8 March 2014

Dave Lee Travis trial: former personal assistant says sex predator claims 'completely untrue'

Gemma Nurden described Travis, known as DLT, as a ''lovely person'' Photo: Getty Images By News agencies

11:56AM GMT 31 Jan 2014

Claims that veteran DJ Dave Lee Travis was seen as a sexual predator while working at a commercial radio station are ''completely untrue'', a former personal assistant has told his trial.

Gemma Nurden described Travis, known as DLT, as a ''lovely person''.

''When Dave met people, he'd give them a big sort of bear hug,'' she told jurors.

''He just sort of would always put his arms around people but not in a seedy way or anything - just in a friendly way.''

Travis, now 68, is on trial accused of indecently assaulting 10 women and sexually assaulting another in incidents dating back to 1976 and the height of his fame.

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He denies all the charges.

Giving evidence, Ms Nurden, who said she worked for Travis from September 1992 to 2002, was asked about the period when he worked at Chiltern Radio, where he is alleged to have inappropriately touched three female colleagues.

Asked by Stephen Vullo, for the defence, if the defendant was known by his colleagues as a ''determined sexual predator'' as the trial has previously heard, Ms Nurden said: ''That's completely untrue.

''I never saw anything to make me think that at all.''

Asked to describe what Travis was like in her view, the witness told jurors at London's Southwark Crown Court: ''He's great fun.

''He was a very sort of larger-than-life character. He would chat to anybody.

''He wasn't sort of like a big superstar that wouldn't talk to a doorman or anything like that, and just a lovely person.''

Asked if she saw or heard anything to suggest Travis ever acted inappropriately with female staff at the radio station, Ms Nurden, who said she accompanied him to his show every day, told jurors: ''No.''

The witness said she began working for the former BBC Radio 1 presenter for a few days a week after his wife Marianne had an operation, carrying out household tasks for the couple and feeding their chickens and pigs.

She became his PA a year later when he left the BBC and began working in commercial radio.

Ms Nurden told jurors she was not aware of any of the women at Chiltern Radio ever accusing him of assaulting them and there was never an ''atmosphere'' at the station because of him.

When asked whether she noticed the smell of the defendant's ''pungent aftershave'' as he walked in the room - as other witnesses have said - Travis gave a loud sigh in the dock as Ms Nurden said: ''Yes.''

Travis - on trial under his birth name David Griffin - denies 13 indecent assaults between 1976 and 2003 and one sexual assault in 2008.

The charges relate to allegations from when he was working as a BBC DJ, as a broadcaster with Classic Gold radio, while appearing on Top Of The Pops and when starring in panto.

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Sunday, 12 January 2014

Former Lostprophets lead singer Ian Watkins admits attempted baby rape

A police-issued photo of Ian Watkins, left, and on stage with the Lostprophets in 2004 Photo: PA 2:48PM GMT 26 Nov 2013

Rock singer Ian Watkins has pleaded guilty to a string of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.

The former lead singer with multi-million selling band Lostprophets made a series of admissions in a last-minute change of plea ahead of what would have been his trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

Watkins, 36, from Pontypridd, south Wales, insists he has no memory of what would have been key video evidence at the trial showing the abuse of his one-year-old victim, the court heard.

The tattooed singer pleaded guilty to a string of sex offences he had previously denied.

The charges included sexually touching a one-year-old and encouraging a groupie to abuse her own child during a webcam chat.

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Watkins also admitted possessing and making child porn as well as launching the plot to rape a baby.

The singer was originally charged with rape but insisted sex with the child did not take place during a drug-fuelled binge he says he was on at the time.

Watkins originally faced 24 separate charges - all sex offence related.

He pleaded guilty to 11 charges, nine of which were unchanged and two of attempted baby rape, as opposed to rape.

Prosecutor Christopher Clee QC told the judge that both of the attempted rape admissions were accepted.

He acknowledged that there was an argument regarding what key video evidence seized from Watkins's laptop actually showed.

"From the footage, there is an argument as to whether the full offence is made out," he told judge Mr Justice Royce.

He also told the judge that the prosecution had in mind the effect on the jury of watching the explicit video footage.

Previous hearings discussed arranging counselling for jurors who might need it.

As talk of sentence was discussed in court, a pale faced and grey haired Watkins began shaking in the dock.

Prosecuting QC Chris Clee gave details of a plot to turn babies in subservient sex slaves using hard drugs.

He said: "Ian Watkins was the lead singer of a successful band called the Lostprophets.

"He was also a determined and committed paedophile engaged in serious sex offences involving of two babies."

Mr Clee read aloud to the court a series of text and internet messages between Watkins and two female co-defendants.

Watkins and Woman A swapped messages where the frontman spoke of his sick desire to "make him mine" and to "cross the line".

They also spoke of plans to blow crystal-meth smoke into the child's face at a secret meet up in a Cardiff hotel.

And on March 23, Watkins sent the woman a message saying he wanted a "summer of filthy child porn" and how he wanted to take things "to the next level".

Mr Clee also gave details of a sickening 17-minute video involving Watkins and Woman A.

Mr Clee said camcorder footage was shot in a London hotel room which showed Watkins perform a sex act on the child.

Computer analysts found the footage uploaded to an online storage facility.

Mr Clee said that following this meeting, the pair exchanged emails about how they would not go "easy" on the child next time.

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Friday, 6 December 2013

Cy Chadwick sex charge: Former Emmerdale star appears in court accused of indecent assault on boy

Emmerdale Star Cy Chadwick at Leeds Magistrate CourtRoss Parry

A former Emmerdale star has denied indecently assaulting a boy in the 1980s.

Cy Chadwick, 44, who played bad boy Nick Bates for more than a decade, appeared at Leeds magistrates court today.

He pleaded not guilty to the allegation which involves a boy under 14.

The alleged assault took place at a time when Chadwick regularly appeared in the ITV soap.

Magistrates were told the charge relates to an offence which took place between September 1985 and September 1988.

The actor was 16 years old and had joined the Yorkshire-based soap the previous year.

Chadwick, of Leeds, West Yorks., who left the show in the 1990s to work in TV production, confirmed his date of birth and address in court on Thursday morning before entering a not guilty plea.

Due to the nature of the alleged crime, JPs made the decision to move his case to Leeds Crown Court after a brief hearing.

He was released on bail to appear there later this month.

The actor was one of the longest serving in the hit soap. His character was sent to jail for arson.

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Nigella Lawson: Recap our updates of TV chef's second day as witness in fraud trial of former PAs

5 Dec 2013 17:34Recap our live updates as Nigella Lawson was cross-examined in court in the trial of former PAs Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo



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Friday, 22 November 2013

BBC Panorama: Former soldiers admit killing unarmed civilians

BBC One's Panorama programme interviews a former soldier who admits to firing on unarmed IRA suspects during the troubles 12:12PM GMT 21 Nov 2013

Members of an Army unit dubbed Britain's secret terror force have admitted breaking the law by firing on unarmed IRA suspects in west Belfast.

The Military Reaction Force (MRF) also carried out drive-by shootings of nationalists 40 years ago, even though there was no independent evidence any of them were members of the republican group, a new television documentary has claimed.

The elite soldiers believed military regulations prohibiting firing unless their lives were in immediate danger did not apply to them.

One told the BBC's Panorama programme: "We were not there to act like an Army unit, we were there to act like a terror group.

"We were there in a position to go after IRA and kill them when we found them."

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Northern Ireland's attorney general John Larkin QC, chief legal adviser to Stormont's powersharing ministerial executive, has faced criticism after floating the possibility of ending prosecutions for Troubles-related killings.

More than 3,000 deaths are being investigated by detectives from the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) as part of the peace process.

The Army has a series of rules known as the Yellow Card, which guides when a soldier can open fire lawfully.

According to the Panorama programme, to be broadcast tonight, seven former members of the force believed the Yellow Card did not apply to them and one described it as a "fuzzy red line", meaning they acted as they saw fit.

The MRF's records have been destroyed but the soldiers denied they were part of a death or assassination squad.

During Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Cameron made clear the Government had no plans to legislate on any form of amnesty.

Panorama: Britain's Secret Terror Force is on BBC One at 9pm tonight.

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'Reform court process for children and sex attack victims', says former senior judge

to end the way in which rape and other sex crimes victims currently give evidenceHe also said cross-examination of children by defence barristers in court can sometimes amount to

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Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Former Everton star Michael Branch ordered to pay back drug dealing proceeds or face more time

Fallen idol: Michael Branch during his three-year spell at WolvesGetty

A formerEverton and Manchester City footballer has been told to pay back more than

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Monday, 18 November 2013

Former chairman of the Co-op bank 'uses crystal meth and crack cocaine'

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Thursday, 14 November 2013

Ed Miliband caused 'grotesque harm' calling for Falkirk police investigation, says former election chief

Tom Watson, the MP for West Bromwich East, says Ed Miliband was wrong to demand a probe into two people involved in allegations of seat-rigging by the Unite union

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Tuesday, 5 November 2013

Make failing to report child sex abuse a crime says former DPP

The former director of public prosecutions says he thinks it is time to 'change the law' on child sex abuse in Britain, so reporting allegations becomes 'mandatory'

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