Stuart Hall released from prison having served half his sentence for historical child abuse

The former 'It’s A Knockout' presenter walked free from HMP Wymott ahead of his 86th birthday next week

Stuart Hall who has been released from prison ahead of his 86th birthday next week (PA)

The disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall has been released from prison ahead of his 86th birthday next week.

The former It’s A Knockout presenter walked free from HMP Wymott in Leyland, Lancashire, after he served half of his second jail term for historical child abuse offences.

In June 2013, he was jailed for 15 months after admitting indecently assaulting 13 girls, aged between nine and 17, before it was doubled by the Court of the Appeal, which ruled the sentence “inadequate”.

Last May he received an additional 30 months in jail for two indecent assaults on another girl.

Before admitting he was a paedophile he stridently protested his innocence to reporters at an early court appearance in 2013 as he labelled the allegations as "pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious".

Following his first arrest, Hall told police the complainants were all lying as part of "a vendetta going on against people in the public eye",

Liz Dux of Slater and Gordon, which represented 12 of the victims, said: “Hall has settled the civil claims against him without any admission of culpability and with no sense of remorse. His victims will feel he has got off lightly and is now free to live the rest of life unaffected, whereas they are left with the consequences.”

A detailed investigation into Hall's conduct at the BBC was carried out by retired High Court judge Dame Linda Dobbs.

Her inquiry is forming part of the Dame Janet Smith Review into the BBC's culture and practices during the years that Jimmy Savile worked at the corporation. That review remains delayed due to ongoing investigations by the Metropolitan Police into sexual abuse.

Press Association