Matthew Steeples suggests that Dave Lee Travis should have been jailed
In sentencing Dave Lee Travis to a suspended sentence of just three months suspended for two years, the wrong message has been sent to those thinking of committing sexual offences.
Some argue that Lee Travis will suffer through the indignity the guilty verdict has brought and that in being forced to sell his own home to meet his estimated £350,000 legal costs, he has been punished further. Others complain that it is the taxpayer who is the true victim in what they term a “witch hunt” of a trial given that the bill for the police, prosecution and court costs will easily top £1 million.
They, in my view, are wrong. Dave Lee Travis – real name David Griffin – has shown no remorse and given that further allegations against him are now the subject of a potential civil claim, this story is far from over. This associate of Jimmy Savile is not just a dirty old man, he’s a revolting groper and an abuser and after the verdict, his statement spoke volumes about the true arrogance of this man. Lee Travis commented:
“Two years ago I was accused out of the blue of being a sexual predator… With millions of pounds of taxpayers money, thousands of hours of police resources, the judge accepted today that the Crown had failed to prove their case against me, namely that I was a sexual predator… I have always been worried that if the prosecution threw enough mud at me, some of it might stick. I am relieved that I have been able to prove that I am not a sexual predator. I am disappointed that I was convicted of one count and it is of little comfort to me that I was acquitted of so many others. Those closest to me, including my wife Mary-Anne, who’ve been by my side all the time, we all know the truth and I am grateful for that”.
Aside from this, Lee Travis could not even behave himself as he was sentenced. In court, he shouted at a journalist named Camilla Long and demanded she be removed from the public gallery.
Through the toughened glass of the dock he is reported to have shouted: “You’re making me uncomfortable. Get where you should be – in the press gallery”.
After Miss Long, who has alleged there wasn’t “a part of my body that he didn’t grope” during an interview with Lee Travis, pointed out that the gallery was full but this did not stop the disgraced entertainer. He then mockingly remarked: “Anyone want to give her a seat?”
Lee Travis and supporters may well believe the case against him was not in the public interest. It was and like Max Clifford, Stuart Hall and Rolf Harris, this monster should have been sent to jail. Given that he’s got off with a suspended sentence, may we instead never hear Dave Lee Travis on our radios ever again.
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