'I'm fighting for my life', Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell tells court as he gives evidence in child rape trial

 
On trial: Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell
Paul Cheston6 September 2013
WEST END FINAL

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Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell told jurors today he was "fighting for his life" as he faced questions from prosecutors while on trial for the alleged rape of a girl.

Le Vell, 48 was described as a man of "good character" having never previously been in trouble with police.

When asked about his drinking, Le Vell said he had the "working-class mentality" of a "bloke" - working, then drinking to unwind - and went to the pub most nights.

"I know it sounds a bit chauvinistic but that's the way I was brought up," he said.

He said he had twice tried Alcoholics Anonymous without success.

Le Vell told the jury he was born in Manchester in 1964 and got into acting at school, aged 12, in the play Kes and he had been in Coronation Street for around 30 years.

He then faced cross-examination from prosecuting barrister Eleanor Laws QC.

Her opening question was a single word.

"Nervous?" she asked.

He replied: "As anyone in this position would be."

Miss Laws said: "You were a bit tearful earlier?"

Le Vell said: "I wouldn't say tearful."

The barrister continued: "A bit shaky?"

He said: "Yes. It's a new experience for me."

Miss Laws said: "It has never been more important for you to be more persuasive than you have ever been today."

The actor said: "I would not say persuasive. I am just here to tell the truth."

The barrister went on: "It has never been more important for people watching you to believe you, has it?"

He said: "I don't know what you are trying to say."

Miss Laws compared his need to be persuasive to an acting job.

Le Vell replied: "It's nothing like an acting job.

"You never get put in a position like this. They never teach you to be here and face what I have been faced with for the last two years. No one can teach you that."

His voice breaking, he added: "I'm fighting for my life."

Earlier Le Vell branded the girl he is alleged to have raped as “seriously deluded," the court heard.

In interviews with police he insisted the abuse “never happened in a million years”.

At first he did admit once getting into the bed in which the girl was sleeping, claiming he had been disorientated and it was “innocent”. But later he denied actually getting into the bed. Asked by a detective: “Did you touch X?”, he replied: “No.”

“Did you put your arm around her?” the officer pressed. Le Vell answered: “No, and if I did I wasn’t under the sheets. It wasn’t anything sexual.”

The actor, on trial under his real name of Michael Turner, went on: “That girl is seriously deluded. I can’t believe the allegations... they’re absolute nonsense. She’s telling a pack of lies.”

Asked why she would have made such allegations, he replied: “All I can think of is if she’s hurt or wants more drama in her life. I’ve not got a clue. I just can’t fathom where it’s come from. I wouldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it.”

The officer told Le Vell bluntly that he had raped the girl at the ages of six, nine and 10. “No,” the actor said. “[It] didn’t happen, didn’t happen... never in a million years.”

He described his sex life as “just normal”, adding: “No fetishes, no tying up, no chains and whips or anything like that.”

Details of the police interviews were revealed on the fourth day of the trial at Manchester crown court, before Le Vell's evidence was heard.

The star, who plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He is said to have abused the girl between September 2002 and September 2010, allegedly raping her while she clutched a teddy bear on one occasion. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wept as she told the court Le Vell had told her it was their “little secret”.

The case continues

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