Former presenter, 67, walks free from court
BY WILMA RILEY FORMER telly and radio star Bryce Curdy has walked free from court after being cleared of raping a 12-year-old girl.
Curdy, 67, had been accused of attacking the youngster three times.
The alleged victim, now 19, said that the rapes happened in a property in the south of France between April and August 2012.
She told the High Court in Glasgow that Curdy, from Ayr, said to her: “If you tell anyone, I will kill you and your mum.”
Curdy denied the allegations and a claim by the girl’s 47-year-old mother that he’d also raped her.
Yesterday, a jury found the case against the former STV and Radio Clyde presenter not proven.
Judge Johanna Johnston told Curdy: “By the verdict of the jury, you are now free to leave the court.” Curdy said: “Thank you, my lady.” He had told the trial that the allegations only emerged after he sent the mother a text asking for his £23,000 Rolex watch back. He claimed she had stolen it.
He said he threatened to go to the police and added: “She was smirking and saying, ‘I speak fluent French, who are the police going to believe?’”
He went on: “I think they are in it together. Their only motive is to destroy my reputation and steal my expensive item.”
The Crown relied on testimony from the mother to corroborate the alleged rapes. She claimed that Curdy attack her in 2012 in France.
The mother’s allegation was not before the jury. Under Scots Law, alleged crimes against children committed in another country can be prosecuted here but not those against adults.
Lorenzo Alonzi, defending, told the jury: “There is no DNA evidence, no torn clothing, no medical evidence and no witnesses who heard screams. The idea that there was this monstrous threat to kill her and her mum, it doesn’t stack up.”
Curdy added: “I am shocked beyond belief, this is completely fraudulent. Nothing inappropriate happened between me and that woman or her daughter.
“This is 100 per cent malicious and malevolent. I don’t think I ever gave the girl as much as a hug. This is cruel and evil.”
Curdy’s last job in the media was at Saga Radio in Glasgow. He now works as a hypnotherapist.