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Roache police to review 'further information'

Lancashire Police said they have been contacted by 'a number of other people' but there is no investigation at present

Antonia Molloy
Saturday 08 February 2014 17:16 GMT
Actor William Roache was cleared of all charges on Thursday
Actor William Roache was cleared of all charges on Thursday

Police are poised to review information they received from “a number of other people” during the trial of Coronation Street actor William Roache, who was cleared of historic sex offences against five women on Thursday.

Roache, 81, who plays Ken Barlow in the ITV soap, was found not guilty by a jury of two counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault following a four-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

Lancashire Police said on Saturday they have been contacted with “further information”, but there is “no current investigation".

A spokeswoman said: "During the course of the trial of Mr Roache, a number of other people have contacted the police with further information.

"This information will be reviewed to ascertain what action, if any, needs to be taken in relation to it.

"Mr Roache was acquitted of all the charges in the trial and there is no current investigation."

It has been reported, although not confirmed, that the information came from three women.

Speaking on the steps of the court after his acquittal, Mr Roache said: "I have just got one thing to say, in these situations there are no winners and I think we should all be much kinder to ourselves. Now if you will excuse me I would like to get back to work."

He did not respond when asked if the trial had been "a witch-hunt".

In her closing speech to the jury, prosecutor Anne Whyte said that if Roache was telling the truth and the complainants were all liars then he could be seen as a victim of "a huge, distorted, perverse witch-hunt".

Nazir Afzal, chief crown prosecutor in the North West, who was widely praised for his role championing victims in the Rochdale grooming case, has been forced to deny claims that he is presiding over a celebrity witch hunt. He said the Roache case had been treated like any other.

“We have a duty to those who make complaints of serious offences to listen to the allegations, and assess the evidence against the same evidential standards we use for all criminal cases, no matter who makes the complaint, or who the complaint is against,” he said.

Mr Roache’s Coronation Street co-star Michael Le Vell and former Street actor Andrew Lancel were both found not guilty of sex offences following trials in the North West last year.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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