Actress's fiance denies 'sex dare'

(First Edition)

THE fiance of the EastEnders actress Gillian Taylforth yesterday denied they stopped their car on an A1 slip-road because he 'got the urge' after a drunken day at the races.

Geoff Knights, 39, a businessman, looked angry as George Carman QC, for the Sun newspaper, challenged him: 'You dared Gillian to give you a blow-job.'

He told counsel: 'I respect Gillian far too much to even think like that on a motorway.'

Mr Knights, who has said he tries not to think about the potentially fatal consequences of his pancreatitis condition, which is triggered by drink, said: 'Surely I am allowed to have a drink?'

The couple, who live in north London with their daughter, have repeatedly denied indulging in a public 'sex romp'. Mr Knights said their day out turned sour as they drove home from Ascot. When he suffered an attack of pancreatitis, Miss Taylforth, 37, who plays Kathy Beale in the BBC soap, pulled their Range Rover over for him to be sick.

He had undone his trousers to ease the pain and she was leaning towards him in concern when Constable Terence Talbot arrived and misconstrued the situation.

Mr Knights denied Mr Carman's suggestion that the story of the pancreatitis attack was 'an excuse for having your trousers undone'.

He also denied he and the actress had been engaged in a 'full-blown kiss' at a service station shortly before, or that he later said to a policeman: 'You know what it's like - you get the urge.'

The Sun denies libel. Mr Knights said the couple brought the action because of the 'disgusting thing they tried to imply' in the June 1992 article, which repeated the police allegation.

He went on: 'We decided this time to make a stand because Gillian has been dragged through it quite enough. That's what we are doing, although it has virtually destroyed us both.

'Gillian has the full support of the BBC because they know exactly what the tabloids are like.'

The case continues.