Leslie accuser: I’m not exploiting his sex pest notoriety
A wOmAn who accused John Leslie of groping her at a party denied she was after fame yesterday, saying she didn’t judge him by his ‘sex pest’ reputation.
The 42-year-old alleged victim said she treated the former Blue Peter presenter, 55, with respect when she introduced herself at a celebrity Christmas party.
But the TV host responded to her friendly overture by grabbing her breasts firmly before walking away with a ‘hearty laugh’, she claimed.
Yesterday the woman recalled the incident from a nightclub in London’s Soho on December 5, 2008: ‘I put out my hand to shake his hand to say, “Hello... nice to meet you”. He shook my hand and was smiling and then immediately thereafter he grabbed both of my breasts, one hand on each breast, quite firmly, and laughed.
‘It was very confident, I would say. I was very shocked. It wasn’t a kind of quick grab. It was a solid grab and then, after a period of a couple of seconds, I think, he let go and was laughing. I was a bit stunned.
‘I didn’t say anything, I was a bit annoyed, I was shocked. He seemed very happy.
‘He laughed again after he did it – a hearty laugh – and then went off to the bar to get a drink.’ After the alleged incident, the woman apparently told a friend: ‘Oh my gosh, this just happened, John Leslie just groped me.’
Yesterday Leslie’s barrister suggested the woman made up the allegation because she wanted to be in the newspapers. Gudrun Young, defending, said the only reason she had accused Leslie is because he is ‘ notorious’ for being a ‘sex pest’.
Jurors heard that the fallen TV star has faced a ‘raft of allegations’ during his career
‘He seemed very happy’
dating back to 2002 when his former girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson said she had been raped by someone she knew.
‘I suggest to you that when you went up to introduce yourself to [the presenter] the only thing that would have been on your mind would have been allegations of a sexual nature,’ the barrister said.
But the alleged victim told Southwark Crown Court: ‘I just think the best of people. I wanted to treat him with respect... It wasn’t like I must go and speak to John Leslie as I’ve heard he’s a sex pest and wanted to see for myself.’ Leslie denies sexual assault. The trial continues.