Actor tells supporters he is delighted and 'might go for a drink now' after being cleared of rape and sexual assault of young girl
The actor Michael Le Vell is to begin talks to return to his role in Coronation Street after he was cleared of raping a young girl and subjecting her to other serious sexual assaults over a number of years.
Le Vell, 48, who plays the car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, had endured two years of allegations by a teenager he described as "a fantasist" intent on trying to ruin him. By his own admission, he had been "fighting for my life" as the seven-day trial headed towards its conclusion.
Moments after his acquittal on all 12 charges against him, the actor, a self-confessed alcoholic, stood outside Manchester crown court and said: "I might go for a drink now."
Members of Le Vell's family clasped hands in the public gallery as they awaited the verdicts. When the foreman read out the first "not guilty" they uttered muffled cries of delight. The actor himself merely nodded. At the second acquittal he rocked on his heels and gazed at the ceiling of court three.
For each of the 12 charges – five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child, and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, the foreman uttered the same two words.
As the foreman uttered his final "not guilty" Le Vell allowed himself a smile, then glanced towards the jury and mouthed two words of his own: "Thank you."
He almost bolted from the glass-panelled dock, rushing through two sets of doors to freedom and the embraces of his brother and two surviving sisters.
The jury had taken just under five hours to clear him of repeatedly attacking a single complainant at various times in her childhood.
Le Vell took a further 10 minutes to compose himself before emerging into the daylight to deliver a brief speech to supporters and media alike. "I'm delighted, obviously," he said.
"It's a big weight off everyone's shoulders. I'd just like to thank my fantastic legal team, my family for their support, security, and I'd like to thank ITV for their continued support throughout this traumatic time for all of us."
Asked when he might return to Coronation Street, Le Vell replied: "I don't know. I may have a holiday first. I'll have a talk with my boss."
A spokeswoman for Coronation Street said later: "We are looking forward to meeting with Michael to discuss his return to the programme."
The actor, acutely aware that had he been convicted he would have faced ruin and revulsion, dodged further questioning and left in a black limousine that sped away from the court complex.
Le Vell's accuser told police Le Vell had first attacked her when she was six. In the witness box, she repeatedly broke down as she gave a graphic account of being raped while clutching one of her teddy bears.
As the assault continued, she alleged, the actor had pressed another of her teddies against her mouth, telling her: "It's OK, just keep calm, stay asleep … I'm going to get rid of the evil."
Le Vell's barrister, Alisdair Williamson, poured scorn on what he said were inconsistences in the complainant's account of being attacked by the actor. She had told a family friend: "It's true. It happened when I was 10."
Had she really been raped as a young child it would have been extremely painful, said Williamson. "There wasn't even a muffled scream. She just didn't make a sound. Is that real?"
Williamson claimed the girl's account was littered with "silly" or "ridiculous" bits of detail that "doesn't add up".
He added: "There's an agonising lack of detail from this witness. She can't give you details because it did not happen, and that's why her story varies according to who she's talking to."
Williamson suggested it was "a strange case of child rape" when there was neither DNA evidence nor of injuries to the alleged victim.
The actor's accuser was not in court to see him acquitted.
Despite being exonerated, Le Vell left the court a bruised and battered man, after the jury heard of his alcoholism and a string of marital infidelities.
Even Williamson had been forced to acknowledge of his client: "He is a man, not a character; a weak man, a stupid man, a drunk man."
He regularly drank up to 12 pints of beer a night in his local pub, and once featured on a programme testing the effects of alcohol and people's ability behind the wheel of a car. "I was the heavy drinker on seven or eight pints and I passed with flying colours," he said.
The actor admitted having had a series of one-night stands, confessing that these, rather than sexual assaults on a young girl, were his "dark secret". At Williamson's behest he even named one lover.
Later he described his sex life as "just normal", adding: "No fetishes, no tying up, no chains and whips or anything like that."
Le Vell, of Hale, Cheshire, was initially arrested on 30 September 2011, and questioned in the custody suite at Manchester airport. However, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with the case. They only did so following a review, and fresh allegations by the girl. Le Vell was re-arrested and charged in February.
The actor joined Coronation Street in 1983. He made no appearances in the soap opera as the legal process continued.
Outside the court, one of his supporters, the former Street star Nigel Pivaro, who played Terry Duckworth, said: "He has suffered two years of hell and probably, also due to his high profile, far more than most. It has been a long journey for him. Now the jury has spoken, he can pick up his career and his life." Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.
The actor Michael Le Vell is to begin talks to return to his role in Coronation Street after he was cleared of raping a young girl and subjecting her to other serious sexual assaults over a number of years.
Le Vell, 48, who plays the car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, had endured two years of allegations by a teenager he described as "a fantasist" intent on trying to ruin him. By his own admission, he had been "fighting for my life" as the seven-day trial headed towards its conclusion.
Moments after his acquittal on all 12 charges against him, the actor, a self-confessed alcoholic, stood outside Manchester crown court and said: "I might go for a drink now."
Members of Le Vell's family clasped hands in the public gallery as they awaited the verdicts. When the foreman read out the first "not guilty" they uttered muffled cries of delight. The actor himself merely nodded. At the second acquittal he rocked on his heels and gazed at the ceiling of court three.
For each of the 12 charges – five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child, and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, the foreman uttered the same two words.
As the foreman uttered his final "not guilty" Le Vell allowed himself a smile, then glanced towards the jury and mouthed two words of his own: "Thank you."
He almost bolted from the glass-panelled dock, rushing through two sets of doors to freedom and the embraces of his brother and two surviving sisters.
The jury had taken just under five hours to clear him of repeatedly attacking a single complainant at various times in her childhood.
Le Vell took a further 10 minutes to compose himself before emerging into the daylight to deliver a brief speech to supporters and media alike. "I'm delighted, obviously," he said.
"It's a big weight off everyone's shoulders. I'd just like to thank my fantastic legal team, my family for their support, security, and I'd like to thank ITV for their continued support throughout this traumatic time for all of us."
Asked when he might return to Coronation Street, Le Vell replied: "I don't know. I may have a holiday first. I'll have a talk with my boss."
A spokeswoman for Coronation Street said later: "We are looking forward to meeting with Michael to discuss his return to the programme."
The actor, acutely aware that had he been convicted he would have faced ruin and revulsion, dodged further questioning and left in a black limousine that sped away from the court complex.
Le Vell's accuser told police Le Vell had first attacked her when she was six. In the witness box, she repeatedly broke down as she gave a graphic account of being raped while clutching one of her teddy bears.
As the assault continued, she alleged, the actor had pressed another of her teddies against her mouth, telling her: "It's OK, just keep calm, stay asleep … I'm going to get rid of the evil."
Le Vell's barrister, Alisdair Williamson, poured scorn on what he said were inconsistences in the complainant's account of being attacked by the actor. She had told a family friend: "It's true. It happened when I was 10."
Had she really been raped as a young child it would have been extremely painful, said Williamson. "There wasn't even a muffled scream. She just didn't make a sound. Is that real?"
Williamson claimed the girl's account was littered with "silly" or "ridiculous" bits of detail that "doesn't add up".
He added: "There's an agonising lack of detail from this witness. She can't give you details because it did not happen, and that's why her story varies according to who she's talking to."
Williamson suggested it was "a strange case of child rape" when there was neither DNA evidence nor of injuries to the alleged victim.
The actor's accuser was not in court to see him acquitted.
Despite being exonerated, Le Vell left the court a bruised and battered man, after the jury heard of his alcoholism and a string of marital infidelities.
Even Williamson had been forced to acknowledge of his client: "He is a man, not a character; a weak man, a stupid man, a drunk man."
He regularly drank up to 12 pints of beer a night in his local pub, and once featured on a programme testing the effects of alcohol and people's ability behind the wheel of a car. "I was the heavy drinker on seven or eight pints and I passed with flying colours," he said.
The actor admitted having had a series of one-night stands, confessing that these, rather than sexual assaults on a young girl, were his "dark secret". At Williamson's behest he even named one lover.
Later he described his sex life as "just normal", adding: "No fetishes, no tying up, no chains and whips or anything like that."
Le Vell, of Hale, Cheshire, was initially arrested on 30 September 2011, and questioned in the custody suite at Manchester airport. However, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with the case. They only did so following a review, and fresh allegations by the girl. Le Vell was re-arrested and charged in February.
The actor joined Coronation Street in 1983. He made no appearances in the soap opera as the legal process continued.
Outside the court, one of his supporters, the former Street star Nigel Pivaro, who played Terry Duckworth, said: "He has suffered two years of hell and probably, also due to his high profile, far more than most. It has been a long journey for him. Now the jury has spoken, he can pick up his career and his life." Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.