The former Coronation Street actor Bruno Langley has been handed a 12-month community order after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two women at a Manchester music venue.
Manchester magistrates court was told on Tuesday that Langley, 34, was drunk when he grabbed one woman by the crotch and touched a second on her “boobs and bum”. The actor was attending his former Coronation Street colleague Craig Charles’s monthly funk and soul night at the Band on the Wall music venue.
Langley played Todd Grimshaw, the soap’s first openly gay character, for more than a decade. He was sacked by ITV when the police investigation came to light in October. His last episode will be screened on Christmas Eve.
Langley was sentenced to a 12-month community order, which includes 40 days of rehabilitation activity and a 12-week, 7am to 7pm curfew order. He was also ordered to pay each of his two victims £250 and told he must sign the sex offender register for the next five years.
Karen Saffman, prosecuting, told the court that Langley was “clearly intoxicated” when the first victim went upstairs to collect coats from the cloakroom.
“As she walked back towards the stairs Mr Langley grabbed her in the crotch area over her dress,” said Saffman. Reading from the victim’s police statement, she said: “He grabbed me. Properly grabbed me. It was a rough grab, really right in. Lots of pressure.”
“Even though it was through her dress and tights she could feel two or three fingers,” said Saffman. “She was clearly in shock. She was thinking about hitting him. She said: ‘Did you do that on purpose?’ But he did not reply.”
A male with Langley then apologised, the court heard, saying: “Oh my God, I’m really sorry.” When the victim then went to go to the toilets she was approached by another woman who said she had also been groped by Langley.
The court heard that the actor had sexually touched another two women on the same night. Saffman said that while he had not been charged with offences concerning those women, they were “indicative of his behaviour”.
Simon Hancock, mitigating, said Langley had sought counselling for personal issues and that the impact on his family – who were in court to see the actor enter his plea – had been “absolutely devastating”. “These two offences happened one evening but they are clearly linked to alcohol and alcohol is the issue that results in despicable behaviour,” said Hancock.
Passing sentence, the district judge Mark Hadfield said Langley’s behaviour had been “disgraceful and degrading”. He said being drunk did not mitigate what he did, but was “a further aggravating feature”.
“The consequences are serious for all concerned, the two victims but also for you,” he said. “You have lost your good name and I know nothing of showbusiness but I imagine in the current climate I suspect it may be very difficult for you to gain employment in that industry in the future.”
In a statement released through his publicist after the hearing, Langley apologised for his “disgraceful behaviour”. “I have absolutely no memory of what happened because of excessive alcohol consumption and it was for this reason that I behaved completely out of character,” he said. “However, I take full responsibility for my actions that night.
“Since this incident I have been dealing with, and confronting some personal issues that I have never addressed, and I am also getting help for an alcohol problem, so that this does not ever happen again.”
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