Singer tells court TV weatherman Talbot tried to molest friend

Stone Roses frontman says incident took place on school camping trip to Scotland

Stone Roses singer Ian Brown told a court weatherman Fred Talbot attempted to carry out a sex act on his friend during a school camping trip.

Brown, 54, said the boy had gone into a tent with Talbot but then rushed back claiming he had tried to molest him.

Talbot is on trial at Lanark Sheriff Court accused of indecently assaulting nine schoolboys during trips to Scotland. He denies a total of nine charges dating between 1978 and 1981.

A jury has heard Brown recall Talbot had been his biology teacher and taught him for four years at a grammar school in the Manchester area.

Under questioning he said Talbot had tried to sexually assault a fellow pupil during an organised trip.

He said: “Mr Talbot decided who would go on these trips and you couldn’t just put your name down for them. It was all down to him who came.

“When we were round the camp fire he said he was going to take one of us to the pub.

“It was great, we were only 14 or 15 and someone was offering to take us to the pub, it was exciting but he took one of my friends.

“I remember them driving off in the minibus and then coming back.

“We were on a hill in the middle of nowhere and it was pitch black.

“Five minutes later Mr Talbot popped his head into the tent and said to the boy who had gone to the pub with him ‘I thought you were staying in my tent tonight’ and he went away.

“The boy then left the tent and I saw him again 10 or 15 minutes later.”

Brown told the court the boy alleged Talbot had attempted to commit a sex act on him.

The singer also told the court of an alleged incident around 1978 where Talbot had shown boys on a trip a pornographic magazine.

He said the magazine featured naked men and claimed Talbot had watched to see who had been looking at the pictures.

Asked by defence lawyer Alan Gravelle why he had not made allegations against Talbot at an earlier date, Brown said he knew Talbot had been starring on TV’s This Morning show.

He said: “Every time he appeared on television I told people the same story that I’m telling here today.

“I got a phone call from a detective in 2013 who said I was a witness to a serious crime and I had to say I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“He then said it was about allegations about Fred Talbot and I knew straight away and said I’d waited 40 years for a policeman to speak to me about Fred Talbot.”

The trial continues.

Ian Brown gave evidence at the trial of former This Morning weatherman Fred Talbot at Lanark Sheriff Court.