Emmerdale star cleared of groping

A former Emmerdale actor has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub.

Lewis Linford, 22, had been accused of assaulting the woman, who cannot be identified, in December 2007 at the Pozition club in Hull, East Yorkshire.

The woman told Hull Crown Court he had touched her and asked her for sex.

But a jury of seven men and five women found Mr Linford, of Swanland in Hull, not guilty. He played Lee Naylor in Emmerdale until two months ago.

He appeared in court under his real name Lewis Smales.

Mr Linford starred in the soap for 10 months between September 2008 and June 2009.

The impact it's had on my family over the last 20 months is devastating Lewis Linford Ex-Emmerdale actor

He was accused of assaulting the woman after he started talking to her in a queue for a cash machine inside the club.

The woman said an argument ensued after Mr Linford had pushed in the queue and that is when he assaulted her.

But Mr Linford said it was the complainant who had attacked him.

He said she had become angry when he began to use the cash machine when she was distracted.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Linford said: "It's been very testing. It's not only me but my family as well. That upsets me more.

"I'd just like to say how relieved I am to be found innocent of this allegation.

"The impact it's had on my family over the last 20 months is devastating."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version