Leslie: I blame the police for ordeal of sex trial
JOHN Leslie apologised yesterday for his behaviour towards women as he made a formal complaint to police over their handling of sex assault allegations made against him.
The former Blue Peter presenter was cleared last month of groping a bride-to-be during her hen night, but claims Police Scotland withheld crucial CCTV evidence that exonerated him.
Leslie admitted he may have to take part of the blame for his ordeal and said he had to change the way he acts with members of the opposite sex.
He said: ‘If my behaviour has upset anybody then I apologise. It may have been inappropriate or not received in the right way.
‘But I’ve never assaulted anyone, ever. I just wouldn’t do it.’
However, he admitted to working through some ‘issues’ with a professional.
He said: ‘You can’t be a big kid, jumping about the place, exuberant all the time.
‘I’m such a positive person, I couldn’t understand how that could be a negative. But if I’m continually getting myself into situations, is it a need in me?’
The 53-year-old claims his latest ordeal, which ended with him being found not proven at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on June 22, has left him ‘broken and vulnerable’.
He said: ‘I feel as if my heart has been ripped out by this latest case and it has been the worst experience of my life.
‘I will be making a formal complaint to the police but I also wouldn’t rule out civil action. At the very least I’d like an apology. The incident took place in a nightclub covered by CCTV yet the police showed no interest in obtaining the footage.’
Leslie was accused by the woman of putting his hand down the back of her trousers while dancing with her, and she later reported him to police.
The CCTV footage from the nightclub helped the celebrity’s case because it showed him dancing with his accuser.
He said: ‘These films, taken from two angles, show the young woman dancing quite happily with me. At no point does anything inappropriate happen.
‘It showed my hand for the whole three minutes and ten seconds of the dance near as damn it in the same position.
‘Yet instead of dropping the matter or sending the videos to the fiscal’s office, the police sent a highly selective summary.’
His accuser was asked to view the film and to identify the point at which Leslie was supposed to have put his hand down her trousers, but failed to do so. Leslie claims police were aware of the footage but were so determined to prosecute him because of his ‘fame’ that they failed to hand it over to prosecutors.
He said: ‘The footage proves I did nothing wrong.’
His lawyer Mark Harrower told Sheriff Adrian Cottam police also overplayed the importance of Leslie’s DNA found inside the woman’s waistband.
Experts said the traces could have been transferred accidentally as the pair were holding hands earlier in the evening. She was later told by police to remove her own clothing, which could have moved it there through indirect contact.
The former Wheel of Fortune presenter is now trying to piece his life back together.
He said: ‘Even though I was cleared, I still lost. It scares the hell out of me the fact that any guy could be put in that situation. I lost dignity, respect and I’m unemployable again, even though I was acquitted.’
The Scot, who once dated Catherine Zeta-Jones, was first accused of sexual assault in 2002. Former weather girl Ulrika Jonsson, Leslie’s former girlfriend, claimed a well-known TV presenter raped her in 1988 in her autobiography.
They were dating that year, so it was speculated Leslie was her attacker – a claim he denies.
A sex tape of Leslie in a threesome with glamour model Abi Titmuss and another woman was leaked later that year. Then a stream of accusers went public with claims of sex attacks.
By December 2002, he had been arrested on suspicion of raping one woman and assaulting two others.
The only other case to make it to trial was one of sexual assault 16 years ago in London – which was thrown out when the credibility of a witness collapsed.
Leslie also admitted his heavy cocaine use played a role in his downfall and says he came to rely on the drug when first embroiled in a sex scandal.
‘Proves I did nothing wrong’