Dave Lee Travis tells trial: 'I don't force myself on women... that's just not me'

 
Defence: Dave Lee Travis
Lindsay Watling28 January 2014
WEST END FINAL

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DJ Dave Lee Travis today told a court he had "fallen into temptation" once or twice but would never force himself on a woman.

He said he did get female attention at the height of his career but insisted he had never had an affair, having been “happily” married for 42 years.

Asked by Stephen Vullo, defending, whether he had ever “fallen into temptation”, he told jurors at Southwark crown court: “I really don’t like the fact this is being asked, because to my mind it has nothing to do with me supposedly forcing myself on someone.”

But he agreed he may have “fallen once or twice”, adding: “Consensual if I might say.”

He continued: “Why would I [assault a woman]? You only have to think logically about this. If all these women are chasing after me because I’m some sort of pop star of the day, the question has to be why would I suddenly go and assault somebody?

“I don’t force myself on women ...I’m sorry, that’s just not me.”

He also said he felt his trial “belittled the real problems women have”, and added: “I just feel women who really have been attacked, who have been mentally abused by their husbands or really attacked, I think because this is going on with me it means it is less likely the real problems are being listened to — and that upsets me.”

Travis, 68, known as DLT but charged under his real name David Griffin, denies 13 indecent assaults between 1976-2003 and sexual assault by touching. The trial continues.

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