Paedo ex-BBC Radio 1 dj dies after 'falling into river from yacht'

A former Radio 1 DJ and convicted paedophile has died after falling into a river.

Michael Willis had been jailed for 18 months for having indecent images of children. He changed his name to David Evans after his conviction, The Sun reports.

Willis, who was friends with Jimmy Savile downloaded hundreds of sick images before he was caught.

It is understood he went missing in December and was last seen taking a water taxi to a pontoon where his yacht was moored in Dartmouth, Devon.

A source told the Sun his torch was still found on the pontoon next to the boat and said he "must have gone into the water."

A subsequent search was carried out by the RNLI and coastguard but nothing was found.

It wasn't until January 20 that a body was discovered half a mile down the river and was later identified as David Evans, 79.

Willis, who used the stage name Steve Merike in the 1970s, was caught with 500 images on his computer on his yacht Appalachian Spring in Plymouth.

At the opening of his inquest in Exeter last week, it was heard he was a divorced and retired college lecturer.

Devon area coroner Alison Longhorn said: "The circumstances are David resided on the boat which was moored on the River Dart.

"He was reported missing to the police as he had not been seen for several days.

"A body was located further down the river several weeks later and it has not been confirmed as that of David Evans.

"There are no suspicious circumstances. The medical cause of death is unascertained."

Willis had worked on Radio Caroline before a short spell on Radio 1 and was friends with infamous paedophile Jimmy Savile.

After his arrest, he had initially claimed he had been "intrigued by the Jimmy Savile affair" and wanted to pass on his findings to a sociologist.

Willis was previously given a suspended nine-month jail term at Leicester Crown Court in 2015 after admitting nine counts of downloading indecent images and movies of children between 2006 and 2013.

After his yacht was raided in 2017, he denied being in possession of 238 Category A indecent images of children on his computers – showing them being sexually abused by adults. He also denied having 226 Category B images.

Willis pleaded guilty to having just 10 pictures in the least severe Category C, on a memory stick.

However the jury at Plymouth Crown Court rejected his claims and found him guilty by unanimous verdicts after a two-day trial.