Leslie penning book to reveal inside story of ex-TV presenter's 'year of hell'

Published on 19/07/2004 03:37

JOHN Leslie, the former TV presenter, revealed yesterday he is writing a book about what he calls his "year of hell".

The troubled star said he had already started work on the book which will chronicle rape allegations by fellow presenter Ulrika Jonsson.

The 39-year-old Scot revealed he was considering offers from two publishers to describe the "hell" he endured after he was named as the man at the centre of the claims.

Although he was cleared in court of any wrongdoing, the fallen star was sacked from his job on ITV 1’s This Morning as a result of the sex scandal.

Now the Edinburgh-born presenter has said he is determined to have "his say" about his 12-month ordeal. He said: "I want to have my say about everything that happened to me during that period.

"I have been damaged terribly with everything that happened before I was finally exonerated. It was a time I don’t ever want to repeat, but it is some story."

Mr Leslie was identified in October 2002 as the anonymous man the Swedish-born presenter Ms Jonsson claimed in an autobiography had raped her in 1988. She has always refused to name her attacker.

After he was named as Ms Jonsson’s alleged attacker, three women made complaints to the police and countless more sold their stories.

Mr Leslie was arrested in December 2002 and charged with two counts of indecent assault on a 23-year-old woman dating back to 1997. The charges were dropped last year and prosecutor Richard Horwell told Southwark Crown Court in London that Mr Leslie would leave "without a stain on his character".

But he lost his 250,000-a-year job presenting ITV’s This Morning talk show.

He was later pictured snorting cocaine on the front page of a national newspaper, which he claimed was a "set-up".

Since then he has tried to make cash by becoming a property developer.

However, the former Blue Peter presenter kept a diary of his 12-month ordeal and hinted he would use his book to repay some of the people he said had "damaged" him since the allegations surfaced.