Scots TV personality John Leslie consults lawyers over rape claims

JOHN Leslie is considering legal action to save his career after he was named as the television presenter who allegedly raped Ulrika Jonsson.

The Scottish celebrity was yesterday identified by Five, formerly Channel 5, as the man at the centre of allegations made in Jonsson’s recent autobiography, a claim that was immediately repeated in several newspapers.

Leslie, 37, who is the presenter of the ITV1 programme This Morning, was last night locked in talks with his lawyers as he discussed the possibility of suing the station for libel to clear his name.

He will not, however, be presenting the flagship daytime TV show today. Granada said last night: "We have agreed with John Leslie for him to take some time off for personal reasons."

In a television documentary last week, Jonsson claimed she had been the victim of a date rape when she was training to be a weather presenter for the breakfast television company TV-am in the late 1980s.

She has refused to publicly name her alleged attacker, but speculation that she was referring to Leslie has become widespread in showbusiness and media circles.

Leslie, who is believed to have briefly dated Jonsson at the start of his career, sought the advice of Max Clifford, the public relations guru, as pressure mounted on him to silence the rumours and deny he was a rapist.

His name was eventually linked to the case by Matthew Wright, the Five presenter and a former newspaper columnist, during a discussion on his programme, The Wright Stuff, yesterday morning, which was broadcast live.

Wright claimed he had blurted out Leslie’s name by accident, but it was the cue for the editors of the London Evening Standard and the Edinburgh Evening News to publish similar reports linking the presenter to the case.

Leslie, who first made his name as a presenter on the BBC children’s programme Blue Peter, now faces a trial by media which looks certain to severely damage his career.

Jonsson, 35, has insisted she does not intend making a formal complaint to police about the allegations.

A statement issued through her lawyers, Schillings, said yesterday: "Miss Jonsson has never named her assailant, nor has she ever had any intention of doing so.

"Furthermore, she has never provided details from which he could be identified."

However, Leslie could face a police investigation following allegations of a separate sexual assault against another woman. The 30-year-old woman was interviewed by detectives in London three days ago after she watched Jonsson talking about her experience on television and decided to tell police about an alleged attack on her.

A spokesman for the City of London Police said: "A woman came in and made an allegation of rape. Obviously, we are investigating."

Leslie was not available for comment at his 1 million home near Richmond, London last night.