Coronations Street actor William Roache sent signed photo after ‘attack’
Sending the letter “was a sort of grooming as we nowadays know it,” said prosecutor Anne Whyte.
Roache “took full advantage of his stardom” to sexually abuse five young girls, a jury heard.
His fame and popularity were said to have silenced his “star-struck” victims for decades until the Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall scandals emerged.
Roache, 81, denies five historic counts of indecent assault and two historic counts of rape involving the complainants when they were aged between 11 or 12 and 16.
The offences are said to have occurred between 1965 and 1971, at a time when he had already achieved fame for playing Ken Barlow in the soap.
The defendant allegedly used his celebrity status to “flatter” the girls, Preston Crown Court was told.
A 14-year-old was sexually assaulted in the men’s toilets of Granada Studios in Manchester after taking part in a talent show there, jurors heard.
Another victim was said to be a young autograph- hunter whom Roache abused in his Rolls-Royce before he stopped the car and “gave her half a crown [12.5p] and told her to get to the bus home”.
Ms Whyte, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury that they were “bound to know” the defendant is a household name but William Roache was on trial — not Ken Barlow.
“You may well conclude by the end of this trial that William Roache’s fame and popularity provided not only the opportunity for his offending but that it is one of the predominant reasons for his victims’ decades of silence,” she said.
Roache was arrested on May 1 and, after being interviewed, was charged with two offences of rape.
The publicity that followed led to the other complainants coming forward.
Apart from two of the alleged victims who were sisters, there was nothing to link any of the complainants, the court heard.
The jury heard about the first alleged victim of Roache who was aged 14 in 1965 when he is said to have indecently assaulted her.
That summer she visited Granada Studios with a friend to take part in a talent show and afterwards she saw Roache in the building and recognised him, Ms Whyte said. “She was naturally impressed,” the prosecutor said. “She and her friend ended up in a dressing room with the defendant and other actors.
“She recounts, perhaps unsurprisingly, about how she felt flattered by the attention.”
Both left the room and he led her by the arm to the men’s toilet, where he allegedly made her commit a sex act on him.
“There was no conversation and they went back to the dressing room where her friend was still chatting to an actor. Then both men left the room and she and her friend made their way out of the building. She had been stunned by what had occurred and went home.”
Afterwards, Roache sent her a letter and signed photograph of himself, which will be shown to the jury.
But this was not a “benign personal touch” by a “well- known young male actor”. Instead it was a deliberate act, Ms Whyte said, “designed to impress a young schoolgirl and to secure her unquestioning loyalty as a fan for a sexual purpose. A sort of grooming, as we would nowadays call it”.
The girl felt “flattered”, even though she knew what had happened was wrong.
“This, the Crown say, demonstrates how easy it is for someone in the defendant’s position to manipulate the trust and attention of star-struck teenagers.”
Another of the alleged victims was sexually abused in a ladies’ toilets, the court heard.
Roache walked in behind her and “before she had the chance to say anything he used his chest to push her backwards against the wall of one of the cubicles”.
“He pushed his hand up her jumper and started to fondle one of her breasts over her bra,” said Ms Whyte.
The court then heard about the two most serious offences of rape.
The victim, aged 15 and a virgin at the time of the alleged offences in 1967, told police that she was at a house in Lancashire and “without any preliminaries” was led to a double bedroom.
“He pushed her on to a bed, moved her knickers to one side and had vaginal intercourse with her,” the prosecutor said. “He did not attempt to kiss her or sweet-talk her in any way.
“She describes it being uncomfortable and feeling panic-stricken. She had never had sex before.”
Afterwards it was as if nothing had happened, the court heard.
The second time, at the same house, Roache is alleged to have pushed her against a wall and raped her once more.
Roache denied he was a rapist and said he was “a peaceful and gentle person”. He went on to tell detectives that women had expressed a sexual interest in him over the years and he had taken the opportunity to sleep with many women.
But, he added, those encounters were all consensual and he did not have a sexual interest in underage girls.
Co-stars Anne Kirkbride, Chris Gascoigne, and Helen Worth are set to give evidence for the defence. The trial continues today.
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