Mother of girl sobs in witness box

The mother of a girl who claims Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell raped her broke down in tears as she described the moment her daughter told her about the alleged abuse, a court heard.

Le Vell, 48, who plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, is facing 12 charges in all — five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Yesterday the alleged victim’s mother sobbed as she relived the moment when she heard about the allegations for the first time.

She told Eleanor Laws QC, prosecuting, that her daughter said: “I just remember all the times he (Le Vell) raped me.”

She said her daughter spoke about the alleged abuse after attending a self–help conference and that her daughter was “very calm” and told her that she remembered the alleged attacks “all the time”.

The woman, who cannot be identified, broke down in the witness box and shakily took a drink of water before carrying on.

Asked by Ms Laws what she thinks happened to her daughter, she replied: “I believe he (Le Vell) had molested and abused her on a regular basis and there have been a number of rapes.”

The alleged victim has now finished giving evidence from behind a screen at Manchester Crown Court and cannot be identified for legal reasons.
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