Roache sex trial ‘haunted by Savile’ says QC

Louise Blackwell QC, defending Roache, poured scorn on the idea that the actor turned from “perfect gentleman” to a sexual predator and back again, she told the jury.

Roache, 81, who plays Ken Barlow in the ITV soap, is accused of using his fame and popularity to exploit “starstruck” youngsters in the late 60s and early 70s.

His 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 and has told the jury at Preston Crown Court he has no knowledge of any of the women he is supposed to have assaulted.

In the defence case’s final submissions to the jury, Miss Blackwell 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, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies two counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault.

Ms Blackwell went through each of the accounts of the complainants to point out “contradictions and inconsistencies”.

She said the first woman to come forward who claimed she was raped was unsure how old she was, 14 or 15 at the time.

Why, she asked the jury, had she not mentioned the alleged attack in 1967 to anyone until 2013?

She said the complainant was a virgin at the time and the defendant a famous actor.

Addressing the eight women and four men on the jury, Miss Blackwell continued: “How many women would not remember exactly how old they were when they lost their virginity?”

Miss Blackwell reminded the jury that the same woman said she was raped a second time by the defendant in the following months – instead of staying away from him from “hate” or “fear”.

“Does this all have the ring of truth to you?” Miss Blackwell asked.

The hearing continues.