John Leslie’s friend has explained how he was left ‘broken’ by a string of court appearances after he was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct. He was cleared of all charges
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John Leslie ‘broken’ by numerous court trials says Malone
John Leslie was left “broken” by his string of court appearances, a pal has claimed.
The former Blue Peter and This Morning presenter attended court a number of times on various different charges relating to sexual misconduct, with the most recent case being in 2020 when he faced a jury after being accused of grabbing a woman’s breast without consent in 2008. The woman alleged it happened at a Christmas party in London in December of that year.
After the allegation was made in 2017, the case went to court three years later in 2020. It was a week long trial, with Mr Leslie eventually being cleared by a jury over the allegations, which he had always strenuously denied.
John Leslie leaving Edinburgh Sheriff Court
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John leaving Southwark Crown Court
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Mr Leslie had always denied all the sexual misconduct allegations made against him, but in a new documentary for Channel 5, titled The Rise & Fall of John Leslie, a friend explains how the trials affected him.
At each court appearance, he was found not guilty – but he was never able to get back the career he had prior to the allegations, which all happened after Matthew Wright accused Mr Leslie of raping a well known television presenter. Despite Mr Wright apologising for his error multiple times, Mr Leslie denying the allegation and a lack of evidence, the story continued to spiral.
John Leslie and his former Blue Peter co-presenter Diane-Louise Jordan
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Speaking in the new documentary, they discussed how many of Mr Leslie’s celebrity friends had publicly voiced their support for him – including his This Morning co-star Fern Britton and his fellow Blue Peter presenter, Diane-Louise Jordan.
Carole Malone, Columnist and TV Commentator, explained: “You had Fern Britton saying the allegations that had been put about John were not the man she knew. Then you had Diane-Louise Jordan, who was a Songs of Praise presenter, but was a presenter of Blue Peter with him and she talked about knowing two John Leslies.
John Leslie pictured in 2008
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“She said that John Leslie before the trial was a confident, lovely, empathetic and considerate man. She talks about the John Leslie after the trial and she says he was broken.”
When Mr Leslie – full name John Leslie Stott – was was found not guilty of sexual assault, Judge Deborah Taylor told him: “Mr Stott, you for the second time leave this court without a stain on your character and I hope it will be the last time you have to attend.”
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