Broadcaster Stuart Hall has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after admitting 14 historic sexual offences against young girls.
Hall, 83, of Prestbury Road, Wilmslow, pleaded guilty to the offences of indecent assault when he appeared at Preston Crown Court on Tuesday, April 16th. The guilty pleas were made public after reporting restrictions were lifted on Thursday, May 2nd. He appeared at Preston Crown Court today (Monday, June 17th) for sentence.
Hall was arrested on December 5th last year and charged with three offences of indecent assault. These offences were committed between 1974 and 1984 and involved three girls aged between 9 and 17 years. He was subsequently arrested a second time on January 22nd and also charged with one offence of rape and 14 offences of indecent assault.
These indecent assault offences were committed between 1967/68 and 1986 and involved 10 girls aged between 9 and 17 years.
He denied the offence of rape against a 22 year old woman and in all the circumstances it was decided this would not be proceeded with and it was left to lie on file.
Detective Supt Neil Esseen, of Lancashire Constabulary's Force Major Investigation Team, said: "I welcome today's sentence imposed by the court and I hope that it will help the victims in this case move forward with their lives.
"I would like once again to commend the victims in this case for having the courage to come forward. They have lived with what happened for a long period of time and it cannot have been easy for them to come forward, especially as when they did so, they did not know there were others who had also suffered abuse.
"We are committed to investigating any allegations of sexually abuse thoroughly and with sensitivity, no matter how long ago they happened and we will always strive to protect our communities, no matter the status of the alleged perpetrator.
"I would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse or who has been a victim of sexual abuse to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge it will be taken seriously and investigated appropriately and with sensitivity."
