Kevin Spacey pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges dating back 17 years

Double Oscar winner strenuously denies allegations relating to three men

Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges dating back to 2005.

The 62-year-old former Hollywood star appeared at the Old Bailey in London to deny five allegations relating to three men, who are now in their 30s and 40s.

The Double Oscar winner was listed under his full name of Kevin Spacey Fowler and appeared in person, having been granted unconditional bail.

Wearing a blue suit and blue tie with pink polka dots, he spoke to confirm his name and date of birth.

He then spoke clearly as he denied four charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013 (Neil Hall/EPA)

At the time, Spacey was artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.

The House Of Cards star has an address in Waterloo, central London, but his home is in the US, where he has family and a nine-year-old dog.

Last month, at an initial court hearing at magistrates’ court, Spacey’s lawyer, Patrick Gibbs QC, said his client “strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case”.

Mr Gibbs said Spacey had returned to the UK “to establish his innocence” and “proceed with his life”.

The charges include two counts of sexual assault on a man, who is now in his forties, in March 2005 in London; sexual assault on a man, who is now in his thirties, and causing him to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, in August 2008 in London; and sexual assault on a man, who is now in his thirties, in April 2013 in Gloucestershire.

The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charges against him in May, but Spacey could only be formally charged once he had travelled to the UK last month.

Spacey, a two-time Academy Award winner, is best known for starring in American Beauty and The Usual Suspects.

He was artistic director at the Old Vic between 2004 and 2015.

Additional reporting by Press Association