Daily Express

Chris Evans sexual assault claims dismissed

- By Mark Reynolds

CHRIS Evans will not face charges over allegation­s he sexually assaulted a female colleague in the 1990s, police confirmed last night.

The Radio 2 DJ, who recently quit his role as Top Gear presenter, was yesterday interviewe­d under caution.

But police said the case had been dropped because of “insufficie­nt evidence”.

Evans, 50, had been investigat­ed over claims of assault in the Tower Hamlets area of London in the early 1990s.

It is believed the star was working at a cottage in the area presenting TV show The Big Breakfast at the time. A Metropolit­an Police spokesman said: “An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on Monday, May 23.

“The allegation was made by a woman against a man. It related to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s.

“The matter was investigat­ed by officers from the sexual offences, exploitati­on and child abuse command. A man in his 50s was interviewe­d under caution by police at an East London police building.

“The decision was made by the police that there was insufficie­nt evidence to proceed.” A spokesman for the Crown Prosecutio­n Service said the matter had “not reached us”, adding that the decision to take no further action had been one for the police.

The decision will be a huge relief to the millionair­e presenter, who had dismissed claims against him as a “witch-hunt”.

His spokesman declined to comment last night.

It emerged earlier this month that Evans was to be quizzed by officers over sex offence allegation­s made by a former colleague.

He was accused of exposing himself to a woman, who has not been named, “almost every day for two years” when they worked together in the 1990s.

The woman claimed Evans exposed himself to people who did not do what he wanted.

She also claimed he exposed himself every time she saw him.

She said at the time: “He might have thought what he was doing was amusing but, like a lot of bullies, he cloaked it in a joke.

“Bullies make out that you’re not being fun if you’re not being part of that joke.”

The BBC has stood behind the presenter since news of the allegation­s broke.

 ??  ?? Chris Evans faced an investigat­ion
Chris Evans faced an investigat­ion

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