Ex-weatherman Fred Talbot ‘assaulted pupil in tent on camping trip’

A man has told a court he was "shocked" and "repulsed" after former TV weatherman Fred Talbot allegedly indecently assaulted him on a school trip.

The witness said Talbot, then a teacher at a Cheshire grammar school, had asked if he could join him in his tent during an excursion to southern Scotland.

He told Lanark Sheriff Court he had "slight reservations" but thought nothing would happen because Talbot was his friend.

Talbot brought his sleeping bag into the tent and laid down between him and another pupil, the man said.

The witness, now 54, said he remembered Talbot putting his hand into the opening of his pyjamas and trying to masturbate him.

"I was shocked at the time so I just froze for a moment," he said, before telling the court how he moved the accused’s arm away.

Asked by the prosecutor how he felt after the alleged assault, he said: "Shocked, repulsed. I also felt foolish to let myself get into this position."

The man said Talbot had later tried to apologise, but told the court: "I thought ‘this isn’t an accident, this is something you’ve deliberately done’."

The assault is alleged to have happened in 1979 during an excursion to Grey Mare’s Tail in Dumfries and Galloway.

Talbot was described in court as being more informal than other teachers and would talk about subjects such as sex.

The 67-year-old, who later became famous for presenting from a floating weather map on ITV, denies eight charges of indecent assault, and one of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour towards a boy of 12.

Six of the incidents are alleged to have happened on camping trips to Scotland, and three on boating trips in Inverness.

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2017: Ex-weatherman Fred Talbot ‘assaulted pupil in tent on camping trip’