Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been granted conditional bail following his appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court today, where he faces multiple serious sexual offence charges spanning more than three decades.
Court appearance and bail conditions
The 68-year-old hip hop presenter, known for his work on BBC Radio 1's Rap Show and MTV's Pimp My Ride UK, arrived at the London court wearing a puffer jacket and was flanked by police officers during the proceedings. Westwood was granted conditional bail and is scheduled to next appear at Southwark Crown Court on December 8.
The veteran DJ faces a total of fifteen charges relating to sexual offences against seven women between 1983 and 2016. The charges include four counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and nine counts of indecent assault.
Detailed allegations spanning decades
The specific allegations against Westwood include indecently assaulting a 17-year-old girl in Fulham, London, in 1983, and indecently assaulting a woman in her 20s in Vauxhall in 1986. Between 1995 and 1996, he is charged with raping and indecently assaulting a woman who was aged between 17 and 18 at the time.
Further charges allege that between 2000 and 2001, Westwood raped and indecently assaulted another woman aged 17 to 18. He is also accused of raping a woman in her 20s in 2010, with all these alleged offences reported to have occurred in London.
The most recent charges include sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 2010, and sexually assaulting another woman in her 20s in the Finchley area of London in 2016.
Background and previous investigations
In 2022, a joint investigation by The Guardian and the BBC brought numerous accusations of sexual misconduct against Westwood to public attention, all of which he strenuously denied at the time. Six women subsequently came forward to share their experiences in the BBC Three documentary titled 'Abuse of Power'.
The BBC Board later issued an apology following an internal review that concluded the corporation 'did not take adequate action' after learning of concerns regarding the hip hop DJ's alleged behaviour.
Westwood stepped down from his show on Capital Xtra in April 2022 and had previously left Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra in 2013 after nearly two decades with the BBC. His television work included presenting the MTV UK car makeover show Pimp My Ride UK, which ran for three seasons from 2005 to 2007.
The DJ, who dominated the UK hip hop scene for 40 years, is the son of the former Anglican bishop of Peterborough, Bill Westwood, who died in the 1990s. The case continues to develop as it moves toward the Crown Court hearing in December.
