Dave Lee Travis trial: Young woman 'groped at BA party'

He said she had 'won the key' to his hotel room, court told

Dave Lee Travis, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, arrives at Southwark Crown Court (Getty Images)

An alleged victim of veteran DJ Dave Lee Travis has told a court that he told her she had "won the key" to his hotel room after he groped her during a dance at a corporate event.

The woman, who was 23 at the time, said the former Radio 1 presenter also put his hand inside her knickers during a British Airways Christmas party.

The alleged victim told London's Southwark Crown Court that she met Travis, 68, on two occasions when she worked at BA and he was acting as a compere at company events in 1993.

Both times she said he grabbed her to dance the Lambada with her, "grinding" against her and becoming aroused.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that, after being forced to dance with him on the second occasion, she planned to make her "escape" but he then made her sit on his knee.

"He didn't let me go of me and dragged me off the floor towards his table," she said.

She told jurors she thought she would just sit next to him before politely making her excuses and leaving as there were a number of BA bosses at the table and she did not want to make a scene.

But she said he pulled her on to his knee and placed his right arm around her waist while putting his left hand on her upper thigh.

"His left hand started creeping up my leg," she said.

"I immediately put my hands on it.

My hands were both on it permanently trying to push it down."

But she said he was much stronger than her and he then started rubbing his thumb against her groin.

"First of all he was rubbing on the outside of my knickers and then on the inside," she told the court.

The woman said she decided to try to distract Travis by talking about the raffle that had taken place as part of the evening's events as there was a ticket lying on the table in front of them.

"I said to him I hadn't won anything. That's when he slapped it on his head and said 'You've won the key to my room'."

The woman said she was "really scared" and when she said she wanted to go to the toilet with a colleague, he told her: "Don't confer with your friends."

"He said 'There's a toilet at my hotel'."

The alleged victim said she thought Travis was a "dirty perv" and a "dirty old man" but did not go to police at the time as she was "too young and too stupid".

But she said she told her friends what had happened after the allegations about Jimmy Savile came out and said to them of Travis: "Mark my words, he'll be next."

Travis, of Buckinghamshire, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, denies 13 indecent assaults and one sexual assault, dating back to 1976 and the height of his fame.

The alleged offending includes when he was working as a BBC DJ, as a broadcaster with Classic Gold radio, while appearing on Top Of The Pops, and when starring in panto.

Wearing a grey woollen blazer, dark trousers and a multi-coloured tie, Travis sat in the dock and listened to the evidence through headphones.

The case continues.

PA