Sportscaster pleads guilty to 14 indecent assaults

LONDON (AP):

Veteran BBC sportscaster Stuart Hall pleaded guilty to 14 indecent assaults on underage girls, including one who was just nine years old, prompting the broadcaster yesterday to drop him for his "sickening" behaviour.

The 83-year-old, who had been arrested in January for questioning about alleged crimes committed between 1967 and 1986, denied any wrongdoing.

Hall admitted his guilt in court in mid-April, but the information could not be made public for legal reasons until yesterday, when reporting restrictions on the case were lifted.

The guilty plea prompted BBC to say it was "appalled" by his actions and to say he would "no longer be contracted" as a broadcaster.

BBC human resources director Lucy Adams told BBC Radio that the allegations against Hall were "sickening" and had shaken the broadcaster to its core.

"These historical allegations are clearly very, very damaging and are very saddening, primarily for the victims," she said.

She was referring not only to Hall's case, but to earlier revelations that the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile was a serial child sex abuser whose crimes went unpunished during his lifetime.

Hall's lawyer Crispin Aylett said Hall is "sorry for what he has done" and wishes to apologise to his victims.