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Court clears actor who accused Kenneth Clarke of sexual assault Court clears actor who accused Kenneth Clarke of sexual assault
(34 minutes later)
An actor has been cleared of perverting the course of justice by making up a story that he was molested by former chancellor Kenneth Clarke during a cash-for-questions TV sting 20 years ago. An actor who claimed he was sexually assaulted by former chancellor Kenneth Clarke has been cleared of perverting the course of justice.
Ben Fellows, 40, from Birmingham, alleged that the leading politician had plied him with alcohol and carried out the sexual assault in the office of a lobbyist while he was working undercover for ITV’s The Cook Report in 1994. Ben Fellows was accused of making false allegations against Clarke, who he said plied him with alcohol and groped him in a lobbyist’s office in 1994.
Clarke insisted he had never in his life “had the compulsion” to grope another man as he dismissed the claim as “preposterous”, “off the Richter scale” and “like Martians landing”. The 40-year-old from Solihull, Birmingham, said the attack took place while he was working on an undercover “cash for questions” sting for ITV’s The Cook Report.
After eight hours of deliberations the jury at the Old Bailey found Fellows, of Olton, Solihull, not guilty of perverting the course of justice between 14 November 2012 and 1 December 2012. He was described by prosecutors at the Old Bailey as “an inventive and sometimes persuasive fantasist” but after eight hours of deliberations, the jury acquitted him.
More details soon ... The court heard that in the autumn of 2012 Fellows told national news reporters about the alleged assault when he was 19 and stories were published in print and on his own blog.
He went on to make a statement to police officers from the high-profile investigation into Westminster historical child sex abuse, Operation Fairbank.
Giving evidence, Clarke insisted he had never had an urge to grope another man, dismissing the claim as “preposterous”, “off the Richter scale” and “like Martians landing”.
The Cook Report sting operation targeted political lobbyist Ian Greer, who was suspected of helping arrange for politicians to ask questions in parliament in return for money.
Fellows said in a witness statement to police that while working on the programme, which was never aired, he had been sexually assaulted in Greer’s London office by Clarke.
When officers checked his version of events, they concluded they were false and began treating him as a suspect rather than a victim.
Fellows’ defence team suggested he had been pressured by the police into making a statement and charges followed after his allegations were made public.
Fellows told the court the alleged assault “was not upsetting at all. It was weird but not upsetting. To put this in context – this was no more than a minor groping you would get in a nightclub on a Saturday night.”
Asked if he had anything personal against Clarke, he said: “No, nothing whatsoever, apart from what happened in that office. I did not take it personally. I was part of the team.”
A series of people involved with the Cook report told the court they were unaware of allegations at the time, or of any video recording – which Fellows claimed existed – of the alleged assault.
Presenter Roger Cook said that if there had been any allegations around at the time, it would have been “an enormous story”.
Former child actor Fellows had also claimed he had been abused by a number of people in the entertainment industry, including a senior female executive at the BBC who, he claimed, seduced him when he was aged between 14 and 16.