TV STAR LESLIE LODGES PROTEST OVER POLICE
Presenter hits out at handling of sex assault allegation
JOHN Leslie is to make a formal complaint against Police Scotland over the handling of a sexual assault allegation against him.
The former Blue Peter and This Morning presenter, 53, claims CCTV footage that shows him dancing in a nightclub with his alleged victim would have proved his innocence from the outset.
He insists police went after him because he is famous.
Leslie’s defence team presented the footage during his trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month, where he denied groping the woman on her hen night.
After a two-day trial, the case against him was found not proven.
Leslie told a Sunday newspaper: “I blame the police. At the very least, I’d like an apology.
“I was detained and charged in the early hours of the morning over an incident in a public space in a nightclub that was covered by CCTV, yet the police showed no interest in obtaining the footage.
“Those films, taken from two different angles, show the young woman dancing quite happily with me. At no point does anything inappropriate happen.
“Yet instead of dropping the matter or sending the videos to the fiscal’s office, the police simply sent a highly selective summary. The woman was about to get married and was having a good time. I was trying to be a nice guy by dancing with her.
“I’m 100 per cent convinced the allegation would not have been made if it wasn’t me.”
Leslie has not ruled out a civil action against the police.
Police Scotland said: “All complaints will be assessed and investigated as appropriate.”