BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall charged with rape

BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall charged with rape
BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall charged with rape (Image credit: PA)

BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has been charged with rape and 14 counts of indecent assault for a string of alleged historic sex attacks, Lancashire Police said. Hall, who lives in Cheshire, was arrested on Tuesday morning after he attended an appointment at a police station. The 83-year-old was last night charged with one count of rape allegedly committed in 1976 against a 22-year-old woman and 14 offences of indecent assault against 10 girls aged between nine and 16 which allegedly took place between 1967 and 1986. He has been bailed to appear before Preston Magistrates' Court on February 7. A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said: "Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service an 83-year-old man has this evening been charged with one offence of rape and 14 offences of indecent assault. "Stuart Hall, of Prestbury Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, was arrested this morning after attending a police station in the county by appointment. "He has been bailed to appear before magistrates in Preston on February 7 2013." Hall has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century and was last year awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours. His eccentric and erudite football match summaries have made him a cult figure on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.