Freddie Starr Loses Groping Defamation Claim

Freddie Starr has lost a defamation claim against a woman who said he groped her at a Jimmy Savile show when she was 15.

The entertainer told London's High Court last month that he did not at first remember appearing on Clunk Click in March 1974 - 41 years ago - until footage showed him in the studio, with Karin Ward in the audience behind him.

He rejected her allegation that he groped and humiliated her in Savile's dressing room by calling her a "t**less wonder".

Ms Ward, 56, denied the slander and libel claims and relied on the defences of justification and public interest.

Starr, 72, was not in court for the ruling.

Starr told Mr Justice Nicol: "It just never happened. It was not in my moral compass. My moral compass will not allow me to do that."

The 72-year-old comedian, who was married to the second of his four wives at the time, said he had never groped anyone in his life and it was untrue that he had "wandering hands".

He sued over interviews given to the BBC and ITV in October 2012 and statements on a website and in an eBook - and claimed he has lost £300,000 because of shows cancelled as a result of the allegations.

Ms Ward told the judge, who heard the case without a jury, that Starr had behaved in the same way that every red-blooded male did in 1974.

She said she had no idea that what she had written about her life was going to be spread all over the globe.

"Had I ever ever anticipated that anything like this might possibly happen...I am very very naive, I am very silly, I am a complete technophobe," she said.

Starr is facing a costs bill unofficially estimated at about £1m.

Ms Ward, who was in court, said she was "relieved" at the ruling.

Speaking outside the court she said: "For anyone who hasn't yet dared to come forward, I say: do not take this case as a reason not to do so.

"Stand tall, it wasn't your fault, and you have a right to be heard without fear or threat of not being believed.

"You may have had no voice and no choice when you were younger, but now you do. Don't give in to bullies."