Schofield’s brother weeps in court at ‘child abuse confession’

PHILLIP Schofield’s brother broke down in tears as he told jurors of the day he confessed to his famous sibling about performing a sex act with a teenager.

Timothy Schofield, 54, said he remembered ‘sitting in a field and making that phone call to him’ in which he said he wanted to take his own life.

Schofield, a civilian IT police worker, said: ‘I sat near the gate of the field just down the road and I thought that [ killing myself] would be the best option.’

He then drove up to the This Morning star’s London home and arrived ‘ranting and raving’ before confiding in him while Phillip did the washing up. He said he convinced the star it happened ‘just’ once, to which his brother told him it ‘should never happen again’.

This took place on September 12, 2021, and the brothers did not speak of the matter again until the IT technician was arrested almost three months later.

Schofield, of Bath, faces 11 charges at Exeter Crown Court relating to sexual offences allegedly committed against the boy over three years.

He denies performing sex acts in front of the teenager and causing him to watch and engage in sex acts.

Schofield was accused of playing the victim and repeatedly asked why he made the teen perform sex acts if he ‘knew it wasn’t right’ in a grilling by the prosecution.

Cross examining the defendant, Robin Shellard put it to him that ‘you are a man who has always put your own needs above that of [the alleged victim]’. He asked him: ‘Why did you not pause, as the adult in the room, and say, “No, this is not right”.’

The prosecutor went on: ‘It is because you were getting a sexual hit from [the alleged victim]?’

The defendant denied that he was sexually attracted to the boy and cited his ‘mental health’ struggles which he accepted had made him lose his ‘moral compass’.

He also described their sexual acts as ‘something that happened between two consenting people’ and said that the complainant’s temper was worse than his own.

But Mr Shellard responded: ‘You seem to be blaming [the alleged victim]. He’s the one with the temper, he’s the one that wanted this.’

The defendant insisted he was ‘not blaming him’ and denied his behaviour was sexual abuse though he admitted it was ‘inappropriate’. He also admitted having a photo of a child under the age of 16 on his hard drive, but said he had ‘assumed’ they were over 18.

Today, he entered the witness box and confirmed to Peter Binder, defending, that his older sibling’s police statement was true.

He tearfully responded, ‘Yes, yes, yes’ as Mr Binder ran through the events of the day, asking if he was ‘angry’ and ‘upset’ as Phillip had stated in court yesterday.

The defendant agreed that he had confessed to watching pornography and performing a sex act with the teenager and said that he was suffering ‘mental health problems’. He added that he was ‘so alone’ and that he felt he was in a ‘horrible hole’ when he phoned his older brother that day.

Schofield claims the sexual encounter with the victim occurred when the boy was over 16 and denies that anything happened when he was younger.

The trial continues.

‘Arrived ranting and raving’