British broadcaster Stuart Hall has pleaded guilty to 14 sex offences, including indecently assaulting 13 girls, the youngest of whom was nine according to the BBC. Hall, who was a BBC broadcasting veteran presenting It's A Knockout in the 70s and 80s and was a football pundit on BBC Radio as well as doing voice-over work TV shows Les Dennis's Home Video Heroes and God's Gift, was initially charged with indecent assaults on three young girls dating between 1974 and 1984 when he was arrested in December 2012, pleading not guilty at the time. Then on January 22 this year, he was charged with rape and 14 additional counts of indecent assault between 1967 and 1986.
Hall, 83, was honoured with an OBE at the beginning of 2012 for his services to broadcasting and charity having been broadcasting in one form or another for over 50 years. He previously denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations 'pernicious, callous, cruel and, above all, spurious' in February, and saying 'Like a lot of other people in this country today I am wondering why it has taken 30 or 40 years for these allegations to surface. The last two months of my life have been a living nightmare.' His lawyer this morning said outside the court that he wished to apologise to the victims, adding 'He is not a man easily moved to self pity but he is all too aware that his disgrace is complete.'
