Friday, November 16, 2012

Arrest not child related - Travis

16 November 2012 Last updated at 13:31 GMT Dave Lee Travis Dave Lee Travis appeared outside his home on Friday to speak to reporters DJ Dave Lee Travis has said his arrest on suspicion of sexual offences is "nothing to do with kids" and denies any wrongdoing.

The 67-year-old ex-Radio 1 DJ, of Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, spoke after he was taken off air with immediate effect by radio station Magic AM.

He said he was "sad and disappointed" by the decision to take him off air.

Mr Travis was arrested and bailed as part of the police probe arising from the Jimmy Savile scandal.

He is due to return to answer police bail in early January, police said.

Speaking to reporters on Friday outside his home, Mr Travis said his arrest was nothing to do with child abuse.

'Complete denial'

"This is nothing to do with kids, all right? That's the first thing. Because that to me is the most important thing in the world and I do not wish to have my name sullied around something that bloody evil, to be honest.

"The second thing I want is to say, yes, there's a complete denial there, but there's nothing else I can tell you because otherwise I might be stepping on the police's feet and I don't want to do that because it might affect their investigations."

He also denied all the unspecified allegations against him, but said he would not be able to do anything to prove or disprove them.

Continue reading the main story Operation Yewtree: Scotland Yard criminal investigation into claims that Jimmy Savile sexually abused young peopleBBC investigation into management failures over the dropping of a Newsnight report into the Savile allegationsBBC investigation into culture and practices during Savile's career and current policies BBC investigation into handling of past sexual harassment claims Department of Health investigation into Savile's appointment to Broadmoor "taskforce" and his activities at Broadmoor, Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Leeds General InfirmaryDirector of Public Prosecutions review into decisions not to prosecute Savile in 2009North Wales abuse inquiry by National Crime Agency head into abuse claims from 70s and 80s, fresh claims, and police handling of the claims Mrs Justice Macur appointed by PM to review the 2000 Waterhouse review which looked into the north Wales abuseBBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie is looking into what happened with the Newsnight investigation into north Wales abuse claims"It's just too easy to make allegations. I'm an easy target," he added. "I am and always have been completely abhorred by child molestation. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

Earlier, Magic AM said that it would be "inappropriate" for Mr Travis to broadcast until the investigation was resolved.

A spokeswoman for Bauer Media, which owns Magic AM, said: "Following the arrest and release on police bail of Dave Lee Travis, Bauer Media has decided to take him off air with immediate effect from his Magic AM weekend shows, which broadcast across the north of England.

"We understand that the allegations about which he was questioned by police pre-date his time as a freelance contributor to Magic AM.

"While we can make no judgement on the matters under investigation, we believe it would be inappropriate for him to broadcast until they are resolved."

The Metropolitan Police say their investigation - Operation Yewtree - into alleged abuse by Savile and others has so far recorded 200 allegations of sexual assault.

They have also identified about 450 potential victims of sexual abuse.

The arrest of Mr Travis is the fourth so far in connection with the Savile investigation.

'TOTP postponed'

However, in a statement on Thursday, the Met, who did not name Mr Travis, said their latest arrest "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Others'", meaning the allegations are unrelated to Savile.

But the force said that the "vast majority" of the 450 possible victims were alleging sexual abuse by former BBC TV presenter and DJ Savile, who died last year aged 84.

Mr Travis - known by the nicknames DLT and the Hairy Cornflake - is best known for his 25-year stint on Radio 1 which ended in 1993.

Mr Travis also presented editions of Top of the Pops in the 1970s and 1980s.

The BBC postponed the transmission of an edition of Top of the Pops from 1977 hosted by Mr Travis that was due to be shown on BBC Four on Thursday.


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