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| Coronation Street's William Roache 'attacked girl in toilet' | Coronation Street's William Roache 'attacked girl in toilet' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Coronation Street star William Roache indecently assaulted a 14-year-old girl in the men's toilet at the Granada TV studios in Manchester and then sent her a signed photo, a court has heard. | |
| Sending the letter "was a sort of grooming as we nowadays know it," prosecutor Anne Whyte QC said. | Sending the letter "was a sort of grooming as we nowadays know it," prosecutor Anne Whyte QC said. |
| Mr Roache, 81, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies two counts of raping a 15-year-old girl in East Lancashire in 1967. | Mr Roache, 81, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies two counts of raping a 15-year-old girl in East Lancashire in 1967. |
| He also denies five counts of indecent assault involving four girls. | He also denies five counts of indecent assault involving four girls. |
| Those alleged offences took place on girls aged from 11 to 16 in Manchester between 1965 and 1968, Preston Crown Court heard. | Those alleged offences took place on girls aged from 11 to 16 in Manchester between 1965 and 1968, Preston Crown Court heard. |
| Miss Whyte said: "William Roache is, as you all know, an actor. He has spent much of his adult life playing a part. | |
| 'Fictional image' | |
| "It is very important that you remember at all times that you are here to judge the man and not the part. | |
| "Mr Roache presents a fictional image of himself for a living - it is part and parcel of his work and fame. | |
| "But in this room, with you, he is William Roache, not Ken Barlow. He is the defendant and you are the jury." | |
| She continued: "He faces seven separate criminal charges. The allegations are made by five different women - each of them says that he sexually abused them during the 1960s. | |
| "He denies that this is the case and your task will be to decide whether these women are telling the truth." | |
| 'Powerful factor' | |
| The prosecutor said the first complainant in the case contacted police last March. | |
| She said: "In the context of discussing other sex scandals involving the late Cyril Smith and Jimmy Savile, her son had expressed disbelief about how long it had taken for victims of sexual offences to come forward. | |
| "His mother tried to explain, and in this case she knows. She eventually told her son about what had happened many years before with the defendant." | |
| Her son told her to contact police which she eventually did, said Miss Whyte. | |
| Mr Roache was arrested on 1 May and, after being interviewed, he was charged with two offences of rape. | |
| The jury was told the alleged rape took place at two of his properties in Haslingden, Lancashire, in 1967 when the girl was 15. | |
| The publicity that followed led to other complainants coming forward. | |
| Apart from two of the alleged victims who were sisters, there was nothing else to link any of the complainants, the court heard. | |
| Miss Whyte said the Crown argued that this should be a "powerful factor" in the jury's assessment of the evidence. | |
| 'Slept with many women' | |
| Women who do not know each other are complaining about his behaviour from the same broad period of time, she said. | |
| The sisters who allege they were indecently assaulted used to sit on the steps of the TV studios, the court heard. | |
| Other alleged attacks took place in his Rolls-Royce. | |
| When he was arrested Mr Roache was "absolutely surprised and amazed. He appeared visibly shocked", Miss Whyte said. | |
| She said he told police he had "taken the opportunity to sleep with many women but this had always been with their consent" adding "he had never sought out girls under the age of 16 because such girls did not interest him sexually". | |
| Mr Roache, who has not appeared in Coronation Street while legal proceedings were ongoing, "strenuously" denies the allegations. |