Travis 'gave me 40 years of hell'

A woman told a court she has gone though “40 years of hell” after allegedly being assaulted by veteran DJ Dave Lee Travis when she was a 19-year-old deputy carnival princess.

The woman told London’s Southwark Crown Court that Travis, now 68, put his hand up her skirt and touched her breast while they were alone at the opening of a hospital radio station in 1973.

The witness, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said Travis had a “haunting look” on his face as he touched her and she felt “frightened” and “ashamed” so avoided watching the former Top Of The Pops presenter on the TV again.

Breaking down in tears, she said her ordeal had an effect on her love life with her late husband, who would never know why.

“When he put his arms around me, I’d freeze,” she said.

The woman, who said she was brought up a strict Catholic, said the incident left her too scared to go out on her own.

She said of Travis: “He screwed a lot of my life up.”

The former BBC presenter, who is on trial under his real name, David Patrick Griffin, denies 13 indecent assaults and one sexual assault, dating back to 1976 and the height of his fame.

Dressed in a grey woollen blazer and maroon shirt and tie, he listened to the proceedings from the dock with the aid of headphones.