[James]

I'm in the clear

CPS drops case against dad accused of hotel rape by Big Brother Lesley

EXCLUSIVE
BY DAVID BRUCE

CHIEF CRIME REPORTER

A LEEDS father arrested and questioned by detectives over the alleged rape of a Big Brother celebrity is NOT to face prosecution, the YEP can reveal.

Gary Brownsword, 24, from Middleton, Leeds, was arrested after Huddersfield-born Lesley Sanderson, 20, a housemate in last year's reality show, claimed she was raped in a Leeds centre hotel.

But, the YEP can reveal today that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has now ruled that no further action should be taken over the allegation.

After hearing of the CPS decision, Mr Brownsword said: "Thank God. I was in a right state when the police came to see me and told me they wanted to question me about theft from her - and also rape."

He declined to discuss the case further.

Det Supt Paul Taylor, who led the investigation, said in a statement: "Police carried out a full investigation and a file was submitted to the CPS."

He said that the man arrested by police on suspicion of a serious sex offence and theft had now been released from his bail.

Lesley Sanderson, who waived her right to anonymity to talk to a national newspaper, was said to be too distressed to talk about the CPS decision.

She is now back, living with her parents on the outskirts of Huddersfield. Her father Paul, told the YEP: "She is too distressed to talk, she has been that depressed".

The Big Brother contestant had claimed that she was raped in her hotel room at the Golden Lion pub, in the early hours of September 21 last year.

david.bruce@ypn.co.uk

10 March 2006

http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticl...icleID=1382556