Former Chiltern Radio newsreader 'erupted' with anger after Travis groped her in middle of busy office, jury hears
A former radio journalist was left "frozen" after being sexually assaulted by Dave Lee Travis while female colleagues sat "praying it wouldn't be us", a jury has heard.
Giving evidence from behind a white curtain, a former Chiltern Radio newsreader told a court how she "erupted" in anger after Travis groped her in the middle of a busy office.
"He walked over to me. I knew what was coming. I didn't have a chance to move," she told jurors at Southwark crown court in London on Wednesday.
"He was inches away, less than that, from my face. He put both hands on the tops of my thighs and he began to rub my thighs. He was rubbing my thighs, he pushed my skirt up, his left hand went up under my skirt and I could feel his hand under my knicker elastic."
The alleged victim spoke slowly as she described what happened next: "At that point I absolutely snapped. I couldn't take it any more. I went a bit crazy, I slammed my hands on his hand and said: 'No, no, stop, stop!'
"I pushed him away and started screaming in his face: 'You're a pervert, how are you getting away with this? Why are you doing this?' I remember saying: 'How are you getting away with this?'"
The former journalist told the court that Travis became very aggressive and his "demeanour changed" before the pair were dragged apart by colleagues.
At this point, the woman said, "the anger inside me erupted" and she kicked a door shut "out of sheer anger and fear" before pleading with bosses to "please help us".
As a result of the incident Travis was banned from entering the newsroom, the jury heard, and the former Top of the Pops veteran left the station shortly afterwards.
Travis denies 13 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault, relating to 11 young women, between January 1976 and November 2008.
Listening to the proceedings through a hearing loop in the court dock, Travis huffed and shook his head as the alleged victim said she had told her boss about his behaviour "as had the other girls and said we have had enough".
She described three incidents that allegedly took place between 2001 and 2004 at the Buckinghamshire station.
The journalist told jurors how Travis gave her a "bear hug" and stroked her breast when she first met the veteran broadcaster.
She said she was "frozen. Shock and in denial. Thinking: 'Did that happen? Is that normal?' It wasn't. I know it wasn't. It felt like how a father should initially hug a daughter, not a man you had just met."
The former newsreader said that at least two colleagues, whom she named, would try desperately to avoid him when he walked through the newsroom.
"When he would walk into the room we would look down praying it wouldn't be us," she said.
The second indecent assault took place in the middle of the office, the jury heard, as the woman described how she could tell Travis was walking in her direction because of his "pungent" aftershave that you could "smell though the entire building".
The court heard that Travis walked over to the woman to collect a pen from her desk, before deliberately stroking his hands over both of her breasts. The alleged victim told jurors she felt "terrified. Terrified. Shock. Sick."
Asked by Miranda Moore QC, for the crown, why she did not report this to her managers, the former newsreader said: "I've asked myself that same question a hundred times. I don't know. Fear. I had the job of my dreams. I was a news journalist. I had a job that was my whole life. I'd worked very hard to get to where I was. I was terrified that no one would believe me, that 'what could I prove?'. Just frightened and terrified of losing the job of my dreams. I felt I wouldn't be believed."
The former journalist, who no longer works at the station, said she was groped by Travis a number of times but there were three incidents she described as "seared into my memory".
Josh Hallidaytheguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.
A former radio journalist was left "frozen" after being sexually assaulted by Dave Lee Travis while female colleagues sat "praying it wouldn't be us", a jury has heard.
Giving evidence from behind a white curtain, a former Chiltern Radio newsreader told a court how she "erupted" in anger after Travis groped her in the middle of a busy office.
"He walked over to me. I knew what was coming. I didn't have a chance to move," she told jurors at Southwark crown court in London on Wednesday.
"He was inches away, less than that, from my face. He put both hands on the tops of my thighs and he began to rub my thighs. He was rubbing my thighs, he pushed my skirt up, his left hand went up under my skirt and I could feel his hand under my knicker elastic."
The alleged victim spoke slowly as she described what happened next: "At that point I absolutely snapped. I couldn't take it any more. I went a bit crazy, I slammed my hands on his hand and said: 'No, no, stop, stop!'
"I pushed him away and started screaming in his face: 'You're a pervert, how are you getting away with this? Why are you doing this?' I remember saying: 'How are you getting away with this?'"
The former journalist told the court that Travis became very aggressive and his "demeanour changed" before the pair were dragged apart by colleagues.
At this point, the woman said, "the anger inside me erupted" and she kicked a door shut "out of sheer anger and fear" before pleading with bosses to "please help us".
As a result of the incident Travis was banned from entering the newsroom, the jury heard, and the former Top of the Pops veteran left the station shortly afterwards.
Travis denies 13 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault, relating to 11 young women, between January 1976 and November 2008.
Listening to the proceedings through a hearing loop in the court dock, Travis huffed and shook his head as the alleged victim said she had told her boss about his behaviour "as had the other girls and said we have had enough".
She described three incidents that allegedly took place between 2001 and 2004 at the Buckinghamshire station.
The journalist told jurors how Travis gave her a "bear hug" and stroked her breast when she first met the veteran broadcaster.
She said she was "frozen. Shock and in denial. Thinking: 'Did that happen? Is that normal?' It wasn't. I know it wasn't. It felt like how a father should initially hug a daughter, not a man you had just met."
The former newsreader said that at least two colleagues, whom she named, would try desperately to avoid him when he walked through the newsroom.
"When he would walk into the room we would look down praying it wouldn't be us," she said.
The second indecent assault took place in the middle of the office, the jury heard, as the woman described how she could tell Travis was walking in her direction because of his "pungent" aftershave that you could "smell though the entire building".
The court heard that Travis walked over to the woman to collect a pen from her desk, before deliberately stroking his hands over both of her breasts. The alleged victim told jurors she felt "terrified. Terrified. Shock. Sick."
Asked by Miranda Moore QC, for the crown, why she did not report this to her managers, the former newsreader said: "I've asked myself that same question a hundred times. I don't know. Fear. I had the job of my dreams. I was a news journalist. I had a job that was my whole life. I'd worked very hard to get to where I was. I was terrified that no one would believe me, that 'what could I prove?'. Just frightened and terrified of losing the job of my dreams. I felt I wouldn't be believed."
The former journalist, who no longer works at the station, said she was groped by Travis a number of times but there were three incidents she described as "seared into my memory".
Josh Hallidaytheguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.