William Roache 'Tried To Groom Girl With Sweets'

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

Coronation Street star William Roache tried to groom a young girl by giving her money for sweets, a court has heard.

The alleged victim, now aged 57, said that she hated the actor and felt like a coward for not reporting him to the police earlier.

Speaking via video link to Preston Crown Court, the woman also said that she had been offered £10,000 by The Sun to sell her story but had turned the offer down.

The woman, who is legally granted anonymity, said she was about 13 or 14 years old when Roache indecently assaulted her in his Rolls Royce.

She said the actor had offered her and a friend a lift home and during the journey took her hand and made her perform a sex act on him.

Afterwards he is alleged to have dropped them off and told them to catch the bus home because he wanted to go and play golf.

"It was deathly quiet in the car," she said. "I was absolutely petrified. He never uttered a word."

Roache arriving at court on Tuesday with his son Linus and daughter Verity

Occasionally crying while giving evidence, the complainant said as she grew older she became increasingly upset about the incident and angry towards Roache.

"I hate him. It's a very strong word. I'm angry about it ... He gave us money to get sweets from the shop but it was a grooming process." she said.

The woman told the jury that she had been angered by a television interview broadcast in recent years in which the Coronation Street actor allegedly claimed that starstruck girls had "thrown themselves" at him, and that abuse victims were being punished for their behaviour in a previous life.

Asked how she felt when she first heard that Roache had been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl she said: "She made me feel like a coward because she had guts to do it. She was brave enough to do it. I did not have the guts to do it first."

She added: "I am obviously very scared but I am quite pleased I have done it."

Asked by Prosecutor Anne Whyte QC what she was afraid off, she replied: "The defendant making out that it has not happened. I am worried about being believed."

The alleged victim said she had had "a really big row" with her husband after he had approached the press about her story.

She said: "No amount of money will clear up what we have been through the last few months."

Roache, who has played the part of Ken Barlow in Coronation Street since 1960, denies two charges of rape and five of indecent assault against girls aged under 16 in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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