TV LESLIE’S TEARS AS HE IS CLEARED
Ex-Blue Peter presenter found not guilty of groping woman
TV PRESENTER John Leslie wept in the dock yesterday as he was cleared of groping a woman at a party 12 years ago.
The former Blue Peter star walked free after a jury found him not guilty following just 25 minutes of deliberation.
Leslie banged his forehead on the glass of the dock after hearing the verdict, then put his hand over his face and cried.
The 55-year-old’s father, Les Stott, burst into tears in the public gallery and they hugged as he left the dock.
A woman had told Southwark Crown Court that Leslie grabbed her breasts and gave a “hearty laugh” when she introduced herself at a bar in London’s West End in 2008.
Witnesses testified that they were told about the alleged incident but did not see it.
Leslie said he was “paranoid” after previously being wrongly named as the TV presenter
Ulrika Jonsson claimed in her 2002 autobiography had raped her, adding that “it was not in his nature” to touch a woman inappropriately.
TV stars Fern Britton, Anthea Turner, Yvette Fielding and Diane- Louise Jordan – colleagues from his time presenting This Morning and Blue Peter – all gave character statements in Leslie’s defence, calling him a “gentleman”.
Gudrun Young, defending, had told the court Leslie was the victim of “trial by media”.
She said the alleged victim’s account was riddled with inconsistencies.
Ms Young told jurors: “If you knew anything about him, I would suggest the two things you would have talked about are Blue Peter and sexual impropriety of some sort since 2002.
“Yet he is, and remains, a man of good character.
“No convictions, no cautions. It has never been established that he has done anything wrong to anybody.”
She branded his treatment a “media witch-hunt”, adding: “His career ruined, his life bl ighted by completely unfounded allegations.
“He has been made to look, in the tabloid press, like some sort of monster. All without a single shred of evidence. This time at least it’s being tried in a court of law.” Turning to the alleged victim’s evidence, she said: “There were some very odd things in the account that she gave.
“There were some bits that didn’t really make sense and some bits that didn’t match up to other evidence.
“She was changing, adapting, massaging her evidence to account for the bizarre fact that she says this man went up in full view of others to commit this brazen sexual assault but no one seems to have seen it.”
She pleaded with the jury to return a not guilty verdict and added: “It’s just not credible. It just didn’t happen. He has nothing to hide.
“There are two John Leslies. The John Leslie that has been portrayed as a sex pest in the press. Then there is the real John Leslie, who is known to his friends and his colleagues.”
Speaking about the night in
December 2008 at an earlier hearing, Leslie said: “I have no idea who [the alleged victim] is.
“The idea I would do that is just crazy – especially the way I was and everything that had been going on. I was paranoid [after previous allegations]. I was aware, conscious.
“To go up to a total stranger and do that would be ludicrous and never would have happened. I can’t imagine why she thought it would have happened.
“I would have said hello but not touched her and walked off.”
He also said: “It’s not a backward industry. We treat women fairly. People don’t go around assaulting women. It’s just not done.
“It’s not something people would condone or allow. People wouldn’t watch it and let it happen.
“If I had seen it, I wouldn’t have let it happen. I would never do such a thing.”