Bill Roache cleared of sex crimes including rape and indecent assault

 
Cleared: Actor Bill Roache speaks to press outside court
Paul Cheston|Nigel Bunyan6 February 2014
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Coronation Street actor William Roache walked free from court today after being cleared by a jury of sex crimes dating back to the 1960s.

The man known to the nation as soap character Ken Barlow had faced the threat of a long prison sentence but jurors found him not guilty of two charges of rape and four of indecent assault on girls as young as 14.

The 81-year-old actor was the one of the highest profile stars to be arrested over allegations of abuse since disgraced DJ and TV presenter Jimmy Savile died.

Roache, who has played Ken Barlow in the TV soap since the very first episode in 1960, left court with his family today after being cleared of all charges.

The jury at Preston Crown Court took six hours to acquit him. The verdict was unanimous.

The 81-year-old looked impassive as the jury foreman read out the verdicts.

But he smiled when Mr Justice Holroyde looked over to the glass-panelled dock and said: "Mr Roache, you are free to leave the dock."

A few moments later the star was hugging one of his security team.

He then went into a private room close to Court One to hug in turn the three of his children who had sat in the public gallery throughout his 17-day trial.

None of the complainants were in court to hear the verdicts.

William Roache cleared

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His youngest son James dissolved into tears with a hand over his face, his brother Linus also wiped away tears and Roache’s youngest daughter Verity was hugged before she also began to weep.

One of Roache’s minders sprang to his feet and shouted “Yes!” and began to clap before the judge told him to be quiet.

Scriptwriters, who had temporarily written him out of the series after he was charged, will now create a new storyline to bring back the much-loved character.

Outside court, Roache said: “Thank you to jury and all those who have supported me.

“In these situations there are no winners and I think we should all be kinder to ourselves.

“Now, if you will excuse me, I would like to get back to work.”

He follows fellow Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell in being cleared of serious sex abuse charges by a jury. He has now returned to filming.

Cleared: Actor Bill Roache at Preston Crown Court during his trial
British actor William Roache (C), who plays the character of Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street, arrives with his sons James (2nd L) and Linus (L), and daughter Verity (R) from Preston Crown Court in Preston, northern England February 6, 2014.

The actor called on a string of Coronation Street stars, including Anne Kirkbride, who plays his on-screen wife Deirdre Barlow, to give evidence on his behalf. She said he was a “perfect gentleman” on set.

The verdicts were greeted with joy by Roache’s Hollywood actor son Linus, who with daughter Verity had publicly stood by their his on a daily basis at court.

Linus is best known for Batman Begins and Law and Order and, like younger brother James, has also appeared in Coronation Street.

Roache was arrested in May last year at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire and told detectives it was “against my nature” to commit rape and blamed “a climate” in which people accused celebrities of sex attacks.

During the trial at Preston Crown Court the alleged victims had claimed Roache had used his celebrity status to exploit the star-struck teenagers, believing they would be too scared to speak out.

One woman, then aged 15, told how Roache had pushed her onto a bed at his family home and committed a “cold and calculating” rape in 1967.

At the time Roache was married to his first wife, Anna Cropper – whom he admitted cheating on – in Haslingden, Lancashire.

Now aged 62, she said she came forward after watching a TV interview in which Roache spoke of how “there had been lots of women in my life”, which she said “made my skin crawl”.

The woman said she had not reported the alleged attacks at the time because she feared no one would believe her.

“I thought it had been my fault,” she said, adding the attacks had left her feeling “frightened, ashamed and disgusted”.

The woman said she suffered two strokes in 2002 which "wiped out" part of her memory, but insisted she remembered the alleged rapes clearly.

Her complaint led to Roache being charged with two counts of rape and following publicity over his arrest, four other women - including two sisters - came forward alleging the star had sexually assaulted them in incidents between 1965 and 1971.

They said they had been 16 or under when he attacked them either at Granada Studios in Manchester, in his car, or at properties he owned between 1965 and 1972.

Three of the assaults took place in the studio’s gents toilets, ladies toilets and a dressing room, while the fourth occurred in his Rolls-Royce when he gave a victim a lift home.

One victim, then aged 14, said she had written to Roache and he had responded, thanking her for her message and asking her to tell him more when she returned to school. In denying all the offences, Roache says he did not even know any of his accusers and had never had a sexual interest in underage girls.

In five hours of evidence from the witness box he robustly protested his innocence over the sex claims, declaring: “I am not a paedophile.”

He said no one apart from those working at Granada would be allowed inside the studio while filming.

Asked if he ever invited guests into the studio or dressing rooms, he said: “It was an extremely difficult and dangerous thing to do. Any noise or cough and a recording could be gone.

“Occasionally very close family, my children. You had to get permission. You had to have a reason. I didn’t want anybody in the dressing room. I needed to concentrate totally on lines and focus on what I needed to do.”

Roache said the toilets in the Granada building were in “constant use”.

He added: “There was so much going on, so many big productions happened, including ours, that security was very strict and people were not allowed in.”

He said he did not remember inviting any guests into his dressing room other than relatives, and said he “would have remembered’ if any teenage girls had been in the room”.

Roache denied taking a girl into the toilet and assaulting her, and insisted he had never offered any fans a lift in his car.

In his summing-up the judge told the jury of eight women and four men to lay aside any emotion and to ensure they were considering their verdicts on William Roache and not Ken Barlow.

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