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Stuart Hall found guilty of indecent assault but cleared of rape Stuart Hall found guilty of indecent assault but cleared of rape
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The former BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has been cleared of 19 rape and indecent assault charges but found guilty of one indecent assault. Stuart Hall has been cleared of 19 rape and indecent assault charges but found guilty of one indecent assault.
At the start of his trial at Preston crown court Hall admitted a single count of indecently assaulting one of two girls when she was 13 but denied the other charges. The former BBC broadcaster, already a convicted paedophile, made no reaction as he was cleared of 15 rapes and four other indecent assaults by a jury of eight women and four men following seven hours and 15 minutes of deliberations.
The former It's A Knockout presenter did not give evidence in court, but his barrister, Crispin Aylett QC, told the jury that both underage girls had consented to sex and "made love" with Hall when they were 15 or 16 and he was in his late 40s. The defence called on a psychologist to suggest they had falsely remembered the abuse through therapy or dreams – a theory dismissed as "psychobabble" by the prosecution. At the start of his trial at Preston crown court, the 84-year-old had admitted a single count of indecently assaulting one of two girls when she was 13 but denied the other charges.
The two complainants came forward after publicity of Hall's first convictions last year. The former It's A Knockout presenter mouthed "Thank you" to the jury at the end of the two-week trial as he was led away to the cells to continue serving his sentence for earlier offences.
In that trial, Hall admitted 14 offences of indecent assault against 13 different girls aged nine to 17, and was jailed for 15 months, subsequently increased to 30 months at the court of appeal. He did not give evidence in court, but his barrister, Crispin Aylett QC, told the jury that both girls had consented to sex and "made love" with Hall when they were 15 or 16 and he was in his late 40s.
Before the jury was sworn in last week, Aylett asked for the jury not to be told of Hall's previous convictions. But the judge, Mr Justice Turner, ruled that to withhold that information would reduce, rather than enhance, the fairness of the trial. In any case, said the judge, most, if not all, of the jurors would know from extensive media reports that the defendant was currently in jail and the reasons for his incarceration. On the opening day of the trial, Aylett addressed the jury after the prosecution opening and asked them to consider in what circumstances a middle-aged man might have a sexual relationship with a girl without it being rape. He said: "Is there something between the red light of rape and the green light of consent?"
A witness in the new trial was one of the women who Hall eventually admitted last year to having sexually assaulted. He told the jury that the allegations Hall faced would fall under the Sexual Offences Act 1956. The act, which was in force until 2003, stated that it was a felony to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13. Aylett told the court that "it means that the people who drafted that legislation envisaged a situation, repugnant and bizarre as it may seem, where someone under the age of 13 could have consented to intercourse".
More details soon … The defence called on a psychologist to suggest the alleged victims had falsely remembered the abuse through therapy or dreams – a theory dismissed as "psychobabble" by the prosecution.
In a previous trial last year, Hall pleaded guilty to a string of separate child abuse charges. He admitted 14 offences of indecent assault against 13 different girls aged nine to 17, and was jailed for 15 months, subsequently increased to 30 months at the court of appeal.
Before the jury was sworn in last week, Aylett had asked for the jurors not to be told of Hall's previous convictions. But the judge, Mr Justice Turner, ruled that to withhold that information would reduce, rather than enhance, the fairness of the trial.
In any case, said the judge, most, if not all, of the jurors would know from extensive media reports that the defendant was currently in jail and the reasons for his incarceration.
Both new complainants came forward following publicity of Hall's first convictions. A witness in the new trial was one of the women Hall eventually admitted last year to having sexually assaulted.
The prosecution described Hall as a predatory, calculating and opportunistic paedophile who abused his victims when they were as young as 12. Peter Wright QC, for the crown, told the jury Hall showed no remorse for his crimes, even asking one of the women, now in her 40s, to be a character witness for him when he faced a first tranche of historical sex abuse claims last year.
The jury heard that Hall "engineered circumstances" to get his victims alone, often in his BBC dressing room, before they were plied with drink, "numbed" by alcohol.
The first alleged victim, known only as Girl A, had said she was raped on numerous occasions at two BBC studios in Manchester when she was aged between 14 and 16.
The other, Girl B, the daughter of a family friend, said Hall first raped her when she was aged 12 at a stables and went on to rape her at various locations, including at the BBC, when she was 14 and 15.
She told the jury Hall seemed proud of what he did to her, even taking a cutting of her pubic hair and placing it behind a picture in his dressing room as a "trophy".
But the jury were ultimately not convinced that either women were under the age of consent when Hall had sex with them.
Hall attempted to get the case thrown out before it began, claiming he would not receive a fair trial after pleading guilty to a string of separate child abuse charges last year.
Last June he was jailed for 15 months, subsequently increased to 30 months at the court of appeal. His sentence was partly increased because Hall aggravated his own offences by initially denying them, very publicly accusing his victims of lying, calling their claims "pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious".
Hall denied the latest accusations after being arrested in his prison cell last October and taken to a police station for questioning. He refused to answer questions but in a prepared statement told detectives he was "surprised" by the nature of the latest allegations.
The former presenter went on to say in interviews that he was "extremely concerned" that the allegations were made after he had pleaded guilty and was sentenced for the previous charges and felt he would not be able to get a fair trial.
During this trial, both complainants were accused of making up their claims in order to receive compensation.
Girl A's solicitors had written to the defendant's lawyers as part of a civil claim in which they asked for £20,000 in "a full and final settlement", the jury at Preston crown court heard.
Cross-examining the complainant, Aylett said: "That is what you have been after all along. Compensation."
The witness replied: "If I was purely after compensation do you really honestly believe I would have put myself through this yesterday and today, and now knowing that it is all out in the open?
"You are making me sound like a bit of a gold-digger. Well, there are easier ways of making money."
When the judge allowed the prosecution to remind the jury that Hall was a convicted paedophile, Aylett addressed them, urging them to try his client purely on the evidence they heard in court.
He said: "To people of a certain age, Stuart Hall will be known as the presenter of It's A Knockout, a good-natured TV programme in which members of the public cheerfully made fools of themselves on camera. And to you in the north-west, you will remember him as the presenter of Look North West, a [BBC] evening regional news programme which sought to entertain and inform.
"To a younger generation of sports fans, you will know him as a rather flamboyant and eccentric football commentator. But to everyone now, Stuart Hall is simply a convicted paedophile who at the end of each court day goes back to his prison cell."
He went on: "You have been paid an enormous compliment because, despite all you know of him, it is confidently expected you will be able to give this man a fair trial."
Hall will be sentenced next week for the two charges of indecent assault.