Leslie: I lived in terror

John Leslie has told how he lived in fear of being sent to prison for sex attacks he never committed.

The TV presenter was speaking for the first time about the ordeal he was forced to endure before indecent assault charges against him were dropped yesterday.

The 38-year-old celebrated his acquittal by drinking champagne with girlfriend Abby Titmuss at a west London bar before enjoying a Chinese takeaway at his home in Sheen.

The TV presenter's career collapsed last year when he was named live on TV in connection with the alleged date-rape of Ulrika Jonsson.

Leslie had been charged with two counts of indecent assault on one woman at a drinks party six years ago. Yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to offer any evidence against him and the charges were dropped.

He was never questioned or accused in relation to Ms Jonsson.

And now, with his name cleared, he has vowed to rebuild his life.

He said in a newspaper interview how he prepared himself for prison - even though he knew he was innocent; how his parents suffered terribly as he endured more than nine months of torment, and how support from members of the public kept him going.

He said today: "I was ready to go to prison for something I didn't do. It was an awful prospect to contemplate, but I had prepared myself for that."

Leslie adds that from the beginning he believed he was in a no-win situation. "If I spoke out, I would be criticised. If I didn't, I would be criticised. Either way I was in for a constant kicking." He decided to remain quiet - until now, he added. "Now is the right and appropriate time and believe me, I have a lot to say."

Leslie said that he had repeatedly gone over every possible outcome in recent months, including that he could be sent to prison, and how he would handle that.

His parents, Lexia and Leslie Stott believed their son was innocent from the start, he said. They had to watch him suffer in silence for months and that made his ordeal even worse. "What it was doing to my parents - that I couldn't handle," he went on.

"For me, this was always a battle to be fought. I just had to get my head down, grit my teeth and get on with it. But it has been terrible for my parents and particularly my mother. It's taken years off both of them."

When Leslie's parents arrived in London after travelling down from their home in Edinburgh yesterday, it was his barrister who told them their son was not going to be tried for indecent assault. Leslie said that he took his parents to a pub and his QC, Tony Jennings, blurted out the news.

Leslie's mother and father "practically fainted" said the presenter. "I practically had to hold them up."

He added that his parents had always intended coming down to London to support him at his first Crown Court hearing, but when they left Edinburgh they thought they were coming just to hear him plead not guilty. At that stage, so did he, he told the Daily Express.

But as soon as he brought his parents into the pub and his barrister told them the news, Leslie said it was fantastic to see first the disbelief and then the relief on their faces.

He had so wanted to tell them something good, he said, "because the last 10 months have been so hard for them".

On Wednesday evening - after being told no evidence would be offered against him in court - Leslie invited his neighbours around for a celebration. He said they had "really lived through this" with him, and that they had had press camped in the street outside their houses for months.

His neighbours have been very protective, said Leslie. "If I didn't want anyone to know I was in the house they never told on me and they found ingenious ways to smuggle food parcels into me. They were marvellous."

Leslie said support from the public helped keep him going during his lowest moments, and that every time anyone came up to him in the street to shake his hand or say 'Hang on in there, mate', it meant "a huge amount to me".

However, he remained worried that every time he stepped outside someone would be pointing at him and saying "There goes that monster John Leslie" - even though it never happened.

Today Leslie was due for a series of meetings with his lawyers, who have reportedly drawn up a "target list" of individuals and newspapers they may take legal action against.

Friends say the former Blue Peter star is determined to take revenge on those he blames for ending his career and turning him into a virtual recluse, forcing him to put his house on the market to pay his legal bills.

Among those that friends say his lawyers are considering bringing legal action against are Jonsson - whose autobiography referred to a date rape by an unnamed television presenter.