Ex-BBC driver David Smith, found dead on day of trial, was prolific paedophile

David Smith, about to be tried for abusing a teenager, had 22 sex offence convictions

David Smith was accused of molesting and raping a 12-year-old boy in the 1980s (PA)

A former driver for the BBC found dead on the day he was due to stand trial for abusing a teenager was a prolific paedophile with 22 previous convictions for sex offences against boys, it emerged today.

David Smith, 66, whose crimes dated back to 1966, had been due to stand trial on Monday accused of molesting and raping a 12-year-old boy in the 1980s while he was working for the corporation but failed to show up at court.

A warrant for his arrest was issued by a judge and police were sent to his third-floor flat in Lewisham, south-east London, after concerns expressed by his legal team.

The case was formally closed todayafter a police officer confirmed that the body was Mr Smith’s. A post mortem examination was due to take place to establish how he died.

Smith had been accused of five allegations of abuse against the boy whom he allegedly met at a swimming pool and invited back to his flat.

The boy was also taken to visit the corporation’s studios in west London and he was indecently assaulted on the journey, according to the BBC.

A previous attempt to track Smith down in relation to the attack failed in 2002 but he was already in prison for another offence, it said.

Smith was used to ferry guests to BBC studios in the 1980s but was not believed to have chauffeured the disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile, whose unmasking as a serial paedophile led directly to Smith’s arrest.

The BBC, which faces questions over the employment of a convicted paedophile, said that so far it had not found any record of Smith working for the corporation.

“On searches carried out to date, we have not found any record of David Smith being employed by or working for the BBC,” a spokesman said.

“We have been assisting the police in relation to David Smith and will continue to do so.”

The victim’s partner contacted police after seeing the documentary about the former DJ’s crimes in October last year. Smith was arrested two months later and became the first person to be charged under Scotland Yard’s Operation Yewtree in April.

The programme led to 600 people coming forward to give information about historic abuse with three-quarters of them relating to Savile.

Sixteen people have so far been arrested over the continuing investigation.

Three men – the former DJ Dave Lee Travis, the publicist Max Clifford and the entertainer Rolf Harris – have so far been charged with historic sex offences.

Detectives leading Operation Yewtree separated its inquiries into those involving “Savile”, those involving “Savile and others”, and those involving “others”.

Smith was investigated in the “others” strand.

Smith, who was the sole carer for his mother, was charged with two counts of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency and one serious sexual assault, all allegedly committed within two months in 1984.

His previous convictions included attacks on boys while he worked as a milkman and at a table tennis club, according to a BBC report.