Mark Lamarr assault charges dropped
PROSECUTORS have dropped common assault and false imprisonment charges against Mark Lamarr, the former host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
The 51-year-old comedian was arrested at the beginning of last month and spent a night in custody.
He had been due to appear before magistrates today but the Crown Prosecution Service last night announced that it had dropped the case due to insufficient evidence.
A CPS spokesman said: “We have a duty to keep cases under continuing review and, following a further review of this case, we concluded that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.”
The complainant has the right to appeal the decision under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme.
Police were reportedly called to Lamarr’s house in Chiswick, west London, by neighbours who claimed to have heard screams.
Lamarr was accused of assaulting a former girlfriend, according to The Sun, and refusing to let her out of the property. The Metropolitan Police said he was charged with common assault and false imprisonment on Sept 1.
He was released on bail and was due to appear at Uxbridge magistrates’ court today.
Lamarr was a regular on television screens in the Nineties, starring in programmes such as The Word, The Big Breakfast and Shooting Stars. But he was best known for hosting BBC music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks from 1996 until 2005.
Lamarr also presented a number of radio programmes across the BBC, including his own Radio 2 show. He left the station in 2010.
A neighbour said the comedian kept a low profile and was often spotted “pottering around car boot sales”.
Lamarr has not publicly commented on his arrest or the collapse of the case.