“PERNICIOUS, CALLOUS, CRUEL AND ABOVE ALL SPURIOUS” – Yeah, right, Stuart!

What the hell is it with these so-called TV personalities?

 

It’s almost like someone opened Pandora’s Box and all the sleazy, creepy ones have all suddenly jumped out of the offenders’ wardrobe!

It started with ‘Uncle’ Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) whose career was ruined after he was accused of child abuse in 1983.

Since then, there’s been a whole host of TV Soap Stars who have had their collars felt for one reason or another!

Remember the Brookside actor Brian Regan, who went from soap star to cocaine courier after his time on the small screen ended.

More recently though, things seem to have accelerated somewhat, starting with the alleged misdemeanour's of Michael Le Vell, (Coronation Street’s Kevin Webster) who was arrested on suspicion of committing a sexual offence involving a young girl. That scandal was quickly followed by humiliation involving the street’s’ longest surviving actor, William Roache (Ken Barlow) who, despite surprising many fans last year when he claimed during a TV interview with Piers Morgan that he'd slept with up to 1,000 women, was charged with raping a schoolgirl more than 45 years ago.

Now, Stuart Hall, after strenuously denying any wrongdoings, by bombastically saying, “the charges against me are pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious!” It was revealed on last night’s news that the once giggling presenter has now pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent assault against children as young as nine.

But this is not the first time that the veteran broadcaster has acted in a fashion not befitting a man who was held in high esteem in the public eye!

In the early nineties, he was charged with shoplifting from his local Safeway. He was acquitted of stealing a jar of coffee, batteries and packet of sausages. However, it didn’t prevent his being dropped by the BBC only to be snapped-up by North West rival channel Granada, who paired him with Bob Greaves for the imaginatively-titled GRANADA TONIGHT.

He's not laughing now!

He had also been involved in several failed businesses. Some of you might recall that he was the man who ran 'SHIT' Travel' - what a great venture that was. (Stuart Hall International Travel, which must qualify as the acronym from hell).

But now, the 83-year-old has been branded an “opportunistic predator” by prosecutors after he changed his plea to guilty on 14 charges relating to indecently assaulting 13 girls over a period of 20 years. …Oh how the mighty have fallen!