The former BBC DJ Tim Westwood has appeared in a central London court after being charged with rape and sexual assault.
During a brief hearing at Westminster magistrates court on Monday, the 68-year-old was told he must return to Southwark crown court in December to face 15 charges relating to seven women, including three charges of indecent assault at the BBC studios in the 1990s. The charges include four counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and nine counts of indecent assault.
Wearing dark trousers and a dark grey shirt, Westwood spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. The former BBC DJ, who returned to the UK from Nigeria last week, was not required to enter pleas to any of the charges and was granted conditional bail.
The chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, granted Westwood bail on the condition that he did not contact prosecution witnesses. Westwood will next appear at Southwark crown court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on 8 December.
The CPS has previously stated that the offences involve seven women and are said to have taken place between 1983 and 2016.
Westwood is alleged to have raped a woman at a London hotel in 1996 and sexually assaulted another woman at a music festival in the city about 20 years later.
Charges include an indecent assault in London in 1983 and the indecent assault of a woman in the same city between 1984 and 1985.
He has also been charged with a rape in a London hotel in 1996, as well as three charges of indecent assault in the same year at BBC Studios.
Further charges include the rape of a woman in London in 2010 and the sexual assault of a woman in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Westwood has previously said he “strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour”.
The most recent alleged offence was the sexual assault of a woman at a London music festival in 2016.
Westwood began his career on local radio before joining Capital Radio in London. He became one of the UK’s best-known names in hip-hop after hosting BBC Radio 1’s first rap show in 1994. He left the BBC after 20 years in 2013, later hosting a regular show on Capital Xtra, which he left in April 2022.
