Actor Le Vell on child rape charge

15 February 2013 Last updated at 13:00 GMT Michael Le Vell's solicitor Richard Gowthorpe reads out a statement on his client's behalf

Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell has been charged with a string of sex offences, including raping a child.

Police said the actor, 48, who plays Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, is also accused of indecently assaulting a child and sexual activity with a child.

Mr Le Vell, whose real name is Michael Turner, is due before magistrates in Manchester on 27 February.

He faces a total of 19 charges relating to crimes allegedly committed between 2001 and 2010.

Alison Levitt QC, principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, said she had reviewed a decision not to prosecute Mr Le Vell following allegations made against him in 2011.

'Fight charges vigorously'

She said: "I have very carefully reviewed the evidence in this case and I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Michael Robert Turner with a number of sexual offences.

"I have authorised Greater Manchester Police to charge Mr Turner with 19 offences, including rape of a child.

"Mr Turner has now been charged with criminal offences and has a right to a fair trial."

In a statement Mr Le Vell said he was innocent of all charges and would "fight them vigorously".

An ITV spokesman said: "Given the serious nature of these charges, Michael Le Vell will not be appearing in Coronation Street pending the outcome of legal proceedings.

"It would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time."

The actor, from Hale in Greater Manchester, has played the role of garage mechanic Kevin Webster for 30 years, making him one of the longest-serving performers in Coronation Street.

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Babe actor arrested over cat protest

8 February 2013 Last updated at 10:52 GMT  Cromwell, 73, was released from jail on Thursday afternoon Oscar-nominated actor James Cromwell has been arrested at an American university over a cat torture protest.

The Babe actor was held for disorderly behaviour after protesting at the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting on Thursday.

Cromwell, 73, and an animal rights group activist held signs showing a cat with metal implanted in its head at a UW-Madison laboratory.

They were released from jail on Thursday afternoon.

The director of the university's Research Animal Resources Centre said government agriculture officials have found their claims to be false.

In a statement posted on the university's website on Thursday, Eric Sandgren said: "Today's events are just another attempt by outside activists to draw attention to a cause.

"They have attacked and distorted this research - which has very real benefits for people who are deaf - from every angle imaginable. Exhaustive independent investigation by the USDA, which regulates the use of animals in research, concluded that Peta's allegations are baseless," he said.

University police sergeant Brent Gruber said Cromwell was arrested and ticketed on a misdemeanour charge of disorderly behaviour.

Cromwell was nominated for an Oscar for his role as farmer Arthur Hoggett in the 1995 film Babe, adapted from Dick King-Smith's novel The Sheep-Pig.

Other starring roles include the 1996 drama The People vs Larry Flynt, The Green Mile alongside Tom Hanks and The Artist in 2011.

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