Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has pleaded not guilty to 15 charges, including rape and sexual assault, at Southwark Crown Court. The 68-year-old appeared in the glass dock wearing a burgundy shirt and black jeans, speaking only to confirm his name and enter his pleas.
The charges relate to seven women over a 33-year period, with offences alleged to have taken place between 1983 and 2016. They include four counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and nine counts of indecent assault. Three of the indecent assault charges are said to have occurred at the BBC Studios in 1996.
Westwood is accused of four indecent assaults in London during the 1980s, three indecent assaults at the BBC in the 1990s, and the rape of a woman at a hotel in 1996. Further charges include two indecent assaults and one rape from the early 2000s, two rapes from the 2010s, and sexual assaults in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and Finchley, London, in 2010 and 2016 respectively.
The court heard that Westwood, of Westminster, central London, is alleged to have raped women, kissed them, and touched their bodies without consent. He was granted bail and told not to contact witnesses. A provisional trial date has been set for 25 January 2027, with a pre-trial review expected in December next year.
Westwood has previously stated that he “strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour”. He hosted shows on BBC Radio 1 between 1994 and 2013 and later presented on Capital Xtra until April 2022.
