Kevin Spacey accused of being ‘sexual bully’ who got ‘sexual gratification’ from victims’ discomfort, court told
The prosecution has opened its case in the Kevin Spacey trial with claims the actor was a “sexual bully” who “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable”, and whose “preferred method of assault” was to “grab” other men “aggressively in the crotch”.
Spacey is in court in the UK on 12 charges – including three of indecent assault and seven of sexual assault – in relation to four men.
Read more: Kevin Spacey trial – as it happened
In a short session lasting just an hour-and-a-half, prosecutor Christine Agnew described the allegations of four men who claim to have been sexually assaulted by the actor.
The 63-year-old star – who was present in court – was described by Ms Agnew as “a famous actor who has won a number of awards,” and by one of his alleged victims as “a star, a golden boy”.
The two-time Oscar winner is known for roles in productions such as House of Cards, American Beauty and The Usual Suspects.
The relevance of Spacey’s fame was flagged early on, with the prosecution warning the jury not to become “star struck” or “overwhelmed,” while the defence said the trial would offer “insights into both sides of fame”, including “the way people act towards you” when you are famous.
The court also heard from the statements of the four victims – none of whom are known to one another according to the prosecution – and who will remain anonymous in coverage of the case.
Ms Agnew said: “None of the men wanted to be touched by Kevin Spacey Fowler in a sexual way, but he doesn’t seem to have cared very much for their feelings.
“He did what he wanted to do for his own personal sexual gratification.”
‘Getting angry simply turned him on’
The first alleged victim, who worked with Spacey in the early 2000s in London, said the actor touched him inappropriately on numerous occasions and at one point “grabbed him so hard” while he was driving that he nearly drove off the road.
He said he asked Spacey on numerous occasions not to touch him, but added Spacey laughed at his request, and he believed “his getting angry simply turned him on”.
He said Spacey seemed “confident” he wouldn’t tell anyone about the alleged assaults.
The alleged victim added he thinks that could have been due to his reputation as a “worldwide star,” or possibly considering he would be “too embarrassed, too ashamed” to make a complaint.
The second alleged victim, who met Spacey at a charity event in London in 2005, said Spacey made many inappropriate comments and said sexual things to him out of the earshot of others, before allegedly grabbing his penis with “such force it was painful”.
The alleged victim said he told a friend about it around a week later, but told no one else.
Claims of unwanted sex act, advances and groping
The third alleged victim, who said he successfully auditioned for a show being put on at the Old Vic Theatre and later approached Spacey as a mentor, described going for a drink at his flat.
He said he woke up to find Spacey allegedly carrying out an unwanted act of oral sex.
He said Spacey told him not to mention what had happened or that he had been to his flat, and added he left in shock, later crying at a bus stop.
The fourth alleged victim, who met Spacey in a village pub in late 2017 when the actor came in with his dog, said that after inviting him and a friend back to the expensive house in which he was staying, Spacey kissed his neck and grabbed his crotch.
He said he left the house in “a panicky state” and called his father to tell him what had happened.
The men were all in their 20s to early 30s when the alleged assaults took place and all the alleged incidents are said to have happened between 2001 and 2013 – a time when Spacey was working and living mainly in the UK.
Prosecution: Spacey ‘took what and who he wanted’
The prosecution said Spacey would claim some of the allegations were “made up” and that others were “consensual”.
She also told the jury it would be their job to decide whether the alleged victims were either “courageous” in coming forward now, or “lying” in order to benefit financially.
Ms Agnew concluded: “Kevin Spacey Fowler abused the power and influence that his reputation and fame afforded him; taking advantage of his popularity and prominence, his illustriousness and influence.
“Taking what and who he wanted when he wanted.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is Kevin Spacey accused of?
Defence warns jury to expect ‘damned lies’
Meanwhile, in a brief statement, the defence – led by Patrick Gibbs – said Spacey had returned to the UK to answer the allegations against him, and “say in full in due course what actually happened”.
He warned the jury they would hear “some truths,” “some half-truths,” “some deliberate exaggerations” and “many damned lies” during evidence.
Spacey is facing 12 charges – all of which he denies.
They are: four counts of sexual assault; three counts of indecent assault; three counts of sexual assault; one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity.
This last charge is the most serious, and carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The case will continue at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Monday, with the full trial set to last around four weeks.
Spacey has been granted unconditional bail.
Three men have been jailed for a combined total of 99 years for plotting to murder a member of a gang that carried out Britain’s biggest-ever cash robbery.
Paul Allen, 46, was shot twice as he stood in his kitchen in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019.
He was a member of the Securitas heist gang that stole £54m from a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.
The former cage fighter was living in a large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the raid.
The attack at his home has left him paralysed from the chest down.
Louis Ahearne, 36, Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, denied conspiring to murder Allen but were found guilty last month following a trial at the Old Bailey.
The trio were sentenced at the Old Bailey in central London on Friday.
Kelly was sentenced to 36 years in prison and an extra five years on licence, Louis Ahearne was jailed for 33 years, and his sibling Stewart Ahearne – 30 years.
Damage to the kitchen door. Pic: Met Police/PA
A bullet casing found in the back garden. Pic: Met Police
Prosecutors did not give a motive for the murder plot, though they described the victim as a “sophisticated” career criminal.
Detectives said the shooting could seem like “the plot [of] a Hollywood blockbuster” but added it was actually “horrific criminality” from “hardened organised criminals”.
In her sentencing remarks, the judge said she believed the trio “were motivated by a promise of financial gain”.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said: “I have no doubt that this agreement to murder Paul Allen involved other people apart from the three of you and that you three were motivated by a promise of financial gain.
“The culpability of each one of you is very high.
“The harm caused to the victim was very serious – indeed, short of killing him it could hardly be more serious. He is currently paralysed and relies on others for every single need.”
The shooting was just the latest act in a long list of criminal deeds. The day before, Kelly and Louise Ahearne used a rented car to carry out a burglary in Kent, accessing the gated community by pretending to be police officers.
A month before that, the trio had stolen more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, for which the Ahearne brothers had been jailed in Switzerland.
Kelly is also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face.
A man has been jailed for life for the murder of university lecturer Claire Chick.
Paul Butler was sentenced to a minimum term of 27 years for killing his estranged wife after a six-month campaign of stalking and harassment when he refused to accept their relationship was over.
Ms Chick, 48, was found seriously injured on West Hoe Road in Plymouth just before 9pm on 22 January. She was taken to hospital, but died the next day.
Previously known as Claire Butler, Ms Chick worked at the University of Plymouth.
Paul Butler has been jailed for murder. Pic: Devon & Cornwall Police
She died after a frenzied attack outside her home – the attack a culmination of months of harassment, stalking and violence at the hands of Butler.
Following her death, Devon and Cornwall Police made a referral to the police watchdog due to previous contact prior to her death.
Jo Martin KC, prosecuting, said Ms Chick had made six statements to the police about Butler and he had been arrested three times.
In her final statement to police the day before he killed her outside her own home, she said: “I only feel that Butler will kill me if further action is not taken. I am in fear of leaving my house.”
Butler was arrested around 20 miles away in the Liskeard area on 24 January.
He was sentenced on Friday at Plymouth Crown Court, having previously pleaded guilty to murder, and to one charge of possession of a bladed article.
‘I loved Claire’
The family of Ms Chick told the court how her murder left a “huge void” in their lives.
Her eldest daughter, Bethany Hancock-Baxter, described Butler as “evil”.
She said: “I want this evil man to listen to me. I want you to know what you have done to us as a family.
“Despite all the hate I have for you, I cannot bring myself to do what you did to my mum – that’s because I am not evil like you.”
Her sister, Lydia Peers, said Butler was a “parasite”.
After her short-lived marriage to Butler, Ms Chick began a relationship with another man, Paul Maxwell.
Mr Maxwell spoke from the witness box and repeatedly stared at the defendant as he spoke. Butler stared back at him.
“I loved Claire. She was beautiful, funny and kind,” Mr Maxwell said.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
UK
Vincent Nichols: British cardinal who will be in the conclave says picking the next pope is ‘intimidating’
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has told Sky News it’s “intimidating” to be one of those responsible for choosing the next pope.
Vincent Nichols is among four UK cardinals in Rome for the Pope’s funeral on Saturday.
Following the funeral, and after nine days of mourning, cardinals from around the world will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast their votes, with white smoke announcing to the world when a new pope has been elected.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols speaks to Sky’s Anna Botting
Cardinal Nichols told Sky’s Anna Botting: “I hope nobody goes into this conclave, as it were, with the sole purpose of wanting to win. I think it’s very important that we go in wanting to listen to each other… It has to be together, trying to sense what God wants next. Not just for the church.”
He described the procession that took Pope Francis to lie in state as “the most moving thing I’ve ever attended here”.
Describing the Pope as a “master of the gesture and the phrase”, he also recalled the pontiff’s last journey away from the Vatican.
Cardinal Nichols said Pope Francis had visited the Regina Coeli prison, telling the inmates: “You know, except for the grace of God, it could well have been me … Don’t lose hope, God has you written in his heart.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Pope touched the hearts of millions’
The Pope later told his doctor his last regret was not being able to wash the feet of the prisoners during that visit.
Becoming emotional, he also said the final message he would like to have given Pope Francis is “thank you”.
The 88-year-old died peacefully on Easter Monday, the Vatican confirmed.
Heads of state – including Sir Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron – have all confirmed their attendance at his funeral, which takes place on Saturday at St Peter’s Square.
Prince William will attend on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Where will Pope Francis be buried?
Talking about the seating plan at the funeral, Cardinal Nichols said he understood it to be “royalty first, then heads of state, then political leaders”.
Worldwide geopolitical tensions mean that many eyes will be on interactions between heads of state at the event, with particular focus on Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their tense meeting at the Oval Office in February.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Pope’s cause of death confirmed .
Looking back at the last papal funeral, Cardinal Nichols described the seating of the then Prince Charles one seat away from Zimbabwean present Robert Mugabe as “obviously a little bit tense”.
Cardinal Nichols explained event would be “exactly the same Catholic rite as everyone else – just on a grander scale”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3D map shows pope’s funeral route
In a break from tradition, Pope Francis will be the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican – and will instead be laid to rest at his favourite church, Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.
He will also be buried in just one simple wooden coffin, instead of the traditional three coffins which are usually used for pontiffs.
Born in Crosby near Liverpool, Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver as a child – but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.
As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.
He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.
Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, previously told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.
He has appeared to rule himself out of the running for pope, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway