Daniel Evans: Circling the latest celebrity scandal
Remember that nice Scottish bloke? The one who used to be on the telly. Brown hair, quite tall. Blue Peter, Wheel Of Fortune, This Morning… John Leslie, that's the one! Whatever happened to him?
In 2003, Leslie was dodging tabloid bullets daily. Following a book by Ulrika Jonsson and comments from loose-lipped TV host Matthew Wright, a number of women sold stories about Leslie's alleged bad behaviour as a London socialite.
The media were salivating as they circled the latest celebrity scandal. But of all the lurid accusations reported by a feverish press, only one – for a minor sexual assault – ever came to court. That was thrown out before it even started.
Many will remember Leslie's tearful speech outside court with a fresh-faced nurse called Abi Titmuss by his side. He said he had "been to hell and back". It's debatable whether he ever got "back".
Leslie hasn't had a job on TV since. He went from being the prince of daytime, to the pauper who side-stepped the gallows.
He was catapulted into small screen oblivion and six years on, still hasn't recovered. Anyone would be forgiven for thinking he had been convicted and been languishing behind bars ever since. In this country you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. The reality when it comes to someone accused of a sexual offence can be guilty, even if proven innocent.
Now, this is largely down to the media, especially when it comes to celebrities. And for a crime reporter like me to call for a change in the law so the accused has anonymity until found guilty, would be shooting myself in the proverbial. But that is what I believe.
"Juicy" front-page stories would be relegated to the news in brief columns, with not only an anonymous victim, but an unnamed suspect. I can picture the look on the editor's face when I return from court to tell him what man A did to woman B in Anonymous Street, Mysteryville. But here is a man who had his life ruined by allegations that were never proven.
If the law had prevented the media from naming and shaming him he could have carried on as normal. The kiss-and-tell – the national tabloids' staple – would become unusable until someone is found guilty.
Leslie is not the only one to suffer trial by media, and he won't be the last. Last year, Ben Freeman, who played Scott Windsor in Emmerdale, was cleared of raping a 16-year-old girl while on holiday. Who knows when he will be back on our screens?
Yes, there is a flaw with anonymity for suspects. Without the fear of a trial being publicised until it finishes, people will be less likely to plead guilty.
In the meantime, with the bumper sales of a celebrity scandal outweighing the cost of that star suing a newspaper, the regular free-for-alls will continue.
And would I still report a sex case involving someone well-known from Bristol? Of course I would… but with a pang of sympathy.
Daniel Evans is the Evening Post's crime correspondent
2 Comments
by hannah, bristol
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 1:13PM
“nice article daniel, i have often wondered myself where john is these days and what he is doing, he was a delight to see on the screen and i was absolutely gutted to here of his unfortunate downfall, if i have to answer the question , do i think he did what he was accused of, i would say NO, but as you have stated it is not fair when men get accused of this viscious act, but we all know that unfortunately even when someone is found innocent in a court of law, some people still wrestle with the thoughts of well did he or didn't he, and thats whats so damaging innocence in court does not necessarily mean
innocent in ones thoughts!!! but wherever he is i wish him well and i would love to see him back on our screens again.
ps Any woman who accuses a man of such a thing and turns out to be a liar, well karma will deal with them.”
by Grahame P, Central Bristol
Thursday, November 12 2009, 4:15PM
“What a thought provoking article. The police make the quite justifiable argument that publicising rape cases can lead to other victims coming forward. I say justifiable because the police's only task is bringing offenders to book and aren't mandated to be concerned about the potential consequences to those wrongly accused.
I've never raped nor been accused of it but, as a single male, I am aware of the damage which can be caused to ones reputation even if only accused. Society treats rape as a truly heinous offence and the old adage that 'mud sticks' holds truer perhaps for sexual offence cases than for others.
Feminist politicians in particular have contributed to these problems by demanding higher conviction rates, as if low conviction rates were due to an inefficiency of process (or attitudes) which needs addressing. The ratio of reported rapes to conviction is, I think, around one in twenty. We're encouraged to infer from this that many rapists must be escaping conviction, and therefore many of those acquitted must be guilty.
I understand the conviction rate for those offences which are brought to trial isn't radically dissimilar to that of other offences. It's at the investigation stage where many accusations fail to meet the required standard where prosecutions may be assumed to have a reasonable chance of success. Partly this will be due to lack of evidence in cases which may solely rely on one person's word against another. In part though, the low rate will also be attributable to police suspicions (or evidence indicating) the claim of rape is a false one. It's this last point which causes problems, especially if one takes the view that malicious accusations are relatively common. One recent study, albeit in America, concluded that as many as a third of all rape allegations could be malicious. Interestingly, the conviction rate of those suspected of making a false allegation is minuscule, with only the most blatant examples being referred for prosecution.
And there's the rub. When it's possible to anonymously claim you've been raped, in the knowledge that the person you accuse will have their name dragged through the mud, inevitably some misguided souls will make false accusations for the worst of reasons, and do so in the knowledge that they're protected. Equality under the law must surely demand that those accused of this terrible crime should also be afforded the anonymity which can protect their lives and reputations should the claim fail to be upheld, just as they should be rightly named and shamed when convicted.”