Hall pleads guilty to sex assaults on girls

VETERAN BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls, the youngest aged nine.

Hall (83) entered the guilty pleas last month at Preston Crown Court. They can only be revealed today following ther lifting of reporting restrictions. The offences took place between 1967 and 1986.

Despite previous public denials of wrongdoing, Hall calmly and repeatedly answered "guilty" when the charges were put at the hearing on April 16. He was granted bail until June 17.

Judge Russell told him all sentence options remain open - including custody.

Previous restrictions on reporting were imposed to avoid prejudicing a possible trial for a count of rape and three counts of indecent assault, which Hall had denied.

Peter Wright QC said the Crown was satisfied those four counts could lie on file. He said the decision on the rape charge was met with the full approval of the complainant.