Peter Rowell (born 17 June 1958) is an English former radio and television presenter. Rowell spent much of his career working in the

West of England West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan N ...

. In March 2012, he was jailed for six years after admitting 12 charges of indecent

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

against underage girls and further charges of making and possessing

indecent images of children Child pornography laws in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are covered by the Protection of Children Act 1978 ("the 1978 Act"), which made it illegal to take, make, distribute, show, or possess for the intent of showing or distributing ...

Career

Born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, County Durham, Rowell began his career as a presenter for

BBC Radio Newcastle BBC Radio Newcastle is the BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from BBC studio ...

. During this time, he played the role of a fictional DJ in the 1988 drama series ''

Geordie Racer ''Geordie Racer'' is an educational BBC ''Look and Read'' production, which was first aired on BBC2 from 12 January to 22 March 1988. The story was set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the surrounding area, and featured pigeon racers and runners com ...

'' as part of the long-running

BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based o ...

series ''

Look and Read ''Look and Read'' is a BBC Television programme for primary schools, aimed at improving children's literacy skills. The programme presents fictional stories in a serial format, the first of which was broadcast in 1967 and the most recent in 20 ...

''. Towards the end of the decade, Rowell moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

to become a presenter for

GWR FM GWR FM was a network of three radio stations in the south west of England broadcasting to Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and surrounding areas. All three stations were rebranded and joined the Heart Network on 23 March 2009. The stations in the network ...

. Around this time, he also worked for

HTV West ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales ...

(now

ITV West Country ITV West Country is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the South West England franchise area on the ITV network. Previously, between 2009 and 2013, the area was a non-franchise region, branded with the same ...

) as a continuity announcer, before joining the station full-time in 1997 as a daytime bulletin newsreader. While at HTV, Rowell also worked as a features reporter and presented a number of non-news regional programmes. After the death of

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

in 1997, Rowell faced a disciplinary hearing after saying "she had huge knockers" after footage of the princess was shown and not realising the microphone was switched on. He left ITV West in May 2010 and joined

BBC Radio Bristol BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving Bristol, Bath and North & North East Somerset. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Bristol. According to RAJAR, the stati ...

to present its weekday afternoon and Sunday morning shows. He left the BBC a year later after his contract expired.

Personal life

Rowell is married with one child and, prior to his imprisonment, lived in

Wickwar Wickwar is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located between Yate and Charfield. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,943. History Wickwar was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ...

, Gloucestershire. Rowell has also supported various charities including the National Animal Support League and KWADS (Knowle West Against Drugs).

Indecent assaults conviction

On 29 March 2011, Rowell was reported

missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras * ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...

after he failed to turn up for work at the BBC's Bristol studios and could not be contacted. Rowell was found in Keswick in Cumbria 36 hours after he was last seen at a supermarket in

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, Somerset, Bath, with regular rail services ...

. He was arrested a day later. On 22 April 2011,

Avon and Somerset Police Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the county of Somerset and in four districts that used to be in the defunct county of Avon: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and So ...

charged Rowell with four counts of

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broad ...

, dating back to the late 1980s & early 1990s. A month later, he was also charged with seven counts of possessing and making indecent images of children along with seven counts of indecent assault against four girls under the age of sixteen. Rowell appeared before North Avon

magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

on 10 June 2011 to face further charges relating to a fifth victim, including rape against a 16-year-old and two counts of sexual assault. and was released on bail with conditions attached until October 2011. The case was committed to trial in October 2011 after Rowell pleaded not guilty to a total of seventeen charges of rape, indecent assault and making & possessing indecent images. At

Bristol Crown Court The Bristol Crown Court is a Crown Court venue in Bristol, England. It is located at the Law Courts in Small Street. Until 1993 the Crown Court met in the Guildhall, on the opposite side of the road. The new Crown Court, which has ten courtroom ...

on 13 January 2012, Rowell admitted 12 charges of indecent assault against five girls under the age of 16 and seven counts of making and possessing child pornography. The rape charge was downgraded to indecent assault, which the court accepted. Avon and Somerset Police said many of the offences had occurred while Rowell was working as a presenter for GWR FM and took place at the station's former studios at St. Augustine's Reach on the Bristol waterfront. On 2 March 2012, Judge David Ticehurst sentenced Rowell to six years in prison and placed him on the

sex offender register In the United Kingdom, the Violent and Sex Offender Register (ViSOR) is a database of records of those required to register with the police under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (the 2003 Act), those jailed for more than 12 months for violent offences ...

.Ex-BBC presenter Peter Rowell jailed for abusing girls
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Peter 1958 births Living people English people convicted of indecent assault British television newsreaders and news presenters English people convicted of child sexual abuse English radio presenters English television presenters People from Sunderland English criminals BBC radio presenters English people convicted of child pornography offences BBC television presenters English prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales People from Wickwar