Tim Westwood granted bail after court appearance on rape and sexual assault charges | Ents & Arts News

Former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been granted conditional bail during a court appearance to face charges of rape and sexual assault.

The 68-year-old is accused of offences against seven women, including three indecent assaults at the BBC studios in the 1990s.

He is also alleged to have raped a woman at a hotel in London in 1996 and sexually assaulted another woman at a music festival in the city about 20 years later.

Westwood, wearing a dark grey shirt, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address as he appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The former BBC DJ, who returned to the UK from Nigeria last week, was not required to enter pleas to any of the charges at this stage.

He has attended five police interviews voluntarily since the investigation into the alleged offences began, the court heard.

He is charged with four counts of rape, nine counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault.

Westwood has previously denied all allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring granted bail on the condition that he does not contact prosecution witnesses, and set his next court appearance at Southwark Crown Court for 8 December.

Westwood began his broadcasting career in local radio before joining Capital Radio in the late 1980s.

He moved to the BBC in 1994, working on Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra over almost 20 years with the corporation.

After leaving the BBC in 2013, he then joined Capital Xtra, hosting a regular Saturday show where he was referred to as “The Big Dawg”, before he left the company in 2022.