Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall

Disgraced BBC star Stuart Hall is facing nearly 20 civil court claims from women who allege the convicted paedophile presenter sexually abused them.

Hall is serving a 15-month sentence for indecently assaulting 13 girls as young as nine between the 1960s and 1980s.

The former football commentator and It's a Knockout presenter was labelled an "opportunistic predator," months after being made an OBE in the New Year Honours list.

Now 17 women have lodged civil claims against the 83-year-old and his former employer, the BBC. They claim Hall abused them on BBC premises.

Some of the cases related to incidents to which Hall did not admit guilt, said lawyers for the women.

A spokesman for the Pannone law firm, Alan Collins, said: "We are instructed by 17 people who allege that they were abused by Hall. Some of those were part of the criminal proceedings."

A BBC spokesman said: "The BBC has made it clear that it is appalled by the disgraceful actions of Stuart Hall and we would like to express our sympathy to his victims. We cannot however comment on specific current or future legal cases that may be related to this matter."

Eleven fo the writs relate to Hall alone, while six of the women are suing the BBC as well as the presenter.

Hall was jailed last month and is now also under investigation for fresh abuse claims. Following his prison sentence, the veteran presenter was placed on suicide watch amid fears he would take his own life.

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, is also investigating whether the jail sentence handed down by the court was too lenient after complaints from the public that Hall should have faced further punishment.