Former BBC driver charged with sex offenses found dead

Police found a former BBC driver dead in his London home Monday after he failed to show up for his trial on charges of sexually abusing a boy in the 1980s. The body was discovered in early afternoon at David Smith's address in South London, The Guardian reported. A warrant had been issued for Smith's arrest after he failed to appear. Smith, 66, was the first person to face criminal charges as a result of Operation Yewtree, the investigation that began with revelations that the late Jimmy Savile, a prominent disc jockey and TV personality, had molested teenage girls. Smith was charged in April with five sexual charges, all involving one 12-year-old boy in 1984. Sandy Canavan, Smith's lawyer, said he was the only caretaker for his "very aged and very unwell mother."