Jury in Bill Roache trial retires to consider verdicts
The jury in the trial of Coronation Street actor William Roache has retired to consider its verdicts. Roache denies two counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault.
The jury in the trial of Coronation Street actor William Roache has retired to consider its verdicts. Roache denies two counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault.
The trial of Coronation Street's Bill Roache has been haunted by the "spectre" of Jimmy Savile, the actor's defence barrister has said.
In the final submissions to the jury at Preston Crown Court, Louise Blackwell QC said:
Jimmy Savile is like an elephant in the room. You can't ignore it. Jimmy Savile has affected, in fact, infected this trial and investigation of these offences.
The Jimmy Savile allegations, for example, related to when he went around hospitals or vulnerable children's homes. They will know whether he was there, there will be records.
One of the things in this case is there is no records. Mr Roache cannot point to a document and say 'There you are, I was not in Granada Studios on that day or in a car or in a house'."
We would invite you to consider a literary quote and see if it helps you: 'Oh what a tangled web we weave when at first we practise to deceive'. Or, to put it another way, if you are going to lie, you need to have a clear head and a good memory.
Roache's trial, now in its third week, has heard from five women who claim he sexually assaulted them when they were 16 or under, either at Granada Studios in Manchester, in his car or at properties he owned between 1967 and 1972. He denies all the charges.
Coronation Street actor Bill Roache has been defended by some of his co-stars at his trial at Preston Crown Court.
On his first day of evidence, actor Bill Roache denied all of the allegations against him insisting he had no interest in 'gratuitous sex'
A woman has told the trial of Coronation Street's Bill Roache that the actor raped her on two occasions when she was 15 years old in 1967.