Former Emmerdale actor Lewis Linford has been cleared of sexually assaulting a woman outside a nightclub. A 20-year-old semi-professional model had claimed that Linford, 22, groped her and begged her for sex as they queued for a cash machine at Hull's Pozition venue on December 22, 2007. After the star's trial began last week, the accuser, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury that she "hadn't provoked anything", adding that Linford made her feel "surprised" and "frightened". However, when Linford took the stand at Hull Crown Court on Friday, he insisted that the complainant had invented the allegation after slapping him in a dispute over the cashpoint. A jury of seven men and five women has now found Linford not guilty of the charge after just seven (more)...
- 8/24/2009
- by By Daniel Kilkelly
- Digital Spy
Former Emmerdale star Lewis Linford has today dismissed a woman's sexual assault allegations as "completely untrue". The 22-year-old actor, who played gamekeeper Lee Naylor on the ITV1 soap, is currently standing trial at Hull Crown Court over the alleged incident under his real name Lewis Smales. A 20-year-old semi-professional model, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has accused Smales of touching her bottom and begging her for sex outside Pozition club in Hull on December 22, 2007. However, giving his version of events in front of a jury today, Smales claimed that the complainant had attacked him during an argument over a cash (more)...
- 8/21/2009
- by By Daniel Kilkelly
- Digital Spy
Former Emmerdale actor Lewis Linford today pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a girl in a Hull nightclub. The 22-year-old - who played Emmerdale's gamekeeper Lee Naylor before being written out in June - appeared before a jury at Hull Crown Court under his real name of Lewis Smales. The alleged incident involving the 20-year-old semi-professional model, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is claimed to have taken place while Linford was queuing at a cash machine outside club Pozition on December 22, 2007. According to the Hull Daily Mail, the possible victim told the jury that Smales touched her bottom and asked her for sex. She said: "He came up from behind me. He put his face into my neck. He said, 'I (more)...
- 8/20/2009
- by By Kris Green
- Digital Spy
Emmerdale actress Sammy Winward has expressed her delight at her character's new forthcoming romance. The 23-year-old's Yorkshire counterpart Katie Sugden has recently been caught between Lee Naylor (Lewis Linford) and Nathan Wylde (Lyndon Ogbourne), but one of the show's newcomers will soon be vying for her attention. When Ryan Lamb (James Sutton) moves into the village with his mother Faye (Kim Thomson), it's not long before he's pursuing her. Speaking to Digital Spy at the (more)...
- 7/9/2009
- by By Kris Green
- Digital Spy
Three Emmerdale characters are to bow out of the show later this year. Tony Haygarth and Lewis Linford - who play farmhand Mick Naylor and his gamekeeper grandson Lee Naylor respectively - are to finish filming within the next couple of months as their characters have 'had their day'. James Baxter's character Jake Doland is also being written out of the rural drama and all three will remain on screen until early summer. Speaking to Soaplife, the show's series producer Gavin Blyth said: "Every character has their time in the show, some longer than others." When originally cast, producers reportedly intended for the Naylors to become the show's new "farming dynasty", following in the footsteps of the Sugdens in a bid to "take the show back to its farming roots". Blyth also hinted that death will (more)...
- 5/6/2009
- by By Kris Green
- Digital Spy
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