A former BBC driver charged with sex offences as part of the investigation triggered by allegations of abuse against Jimmy Savile has been found dead at his home.
David Smith (66), who was the first person to be charged under Operation Yewtree, failed to turn up at Southwark crown court in London for the start of his trial yesterday.
A warrant was issued ordering Smith to turn up at court but when officers arrived at his home in Lewisham, southeast London, they found a body. The cause of death is not yet known and a postmortem will take place.
Smith had faced two counts of indecent assault, two of indecency with a child, and one of buggery, all relating to a 12-year-old boy, between June 1st and July 21st, 1984.
The BBC reported that it was alleged that Smith met his victim at a swimming pool and invited him back to his flat, where he sexually abused him.
The victim's partner contacted police after she saw his response to the ITV documentary Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile, broadcast last October. Smith was a prolific sex offender whose first conviction was in 1966. He had 22 convictions for sexual offences against young boys, the BBC said. – (PA)