The TV weatherman Fred Talbot has been taken to hospital after cutting his head open after falling while leaving the witness box during his sex abuse trial in Manchester.
The jury had been sent for a break when Talbot tripped, hitting his head on a wooden table. The 65-year-old was left with a bloodied forehead and swollen nose.
There were gasps in the public gallery at Manchester Minshull Street crown court as a clerk rushed to Talbot’s aid. He appeared to be briefly knocked unconscious and could be heard gasping for breath.
Talbot had been giving evidence for about 20 minutes before the accident. Tuesday’s proceedings had already been delayed by a fire alarm, causing the court to be evacuated.
Before his fall, Talbot told the jury about his early teaching years. He trained to be a teacher at a college in Newcastle aged 18, and had high hopes. “I wanted to change the world,” he said. “I always had the view that education can change people. I had that view then. I still have it now.”
Talbot is accused of 10 counts of indecent assault against five former pupils, then aged as young as 14. He denies the charges.
The judge, Mr Justice Timothy Mort, adjourned the case until Wednesday. He told the jury: “After you left the room, Mr Talbot was leaving the witness box, missed his footing and banged his head on one of these [wooden] structures. He was obviously treated to see if he could just be patched up with plaster. But the paramedic came and decided because it’s a head injury they really ought to have it checked out. So he’s gone off to the MRI [Manchester Royal Infirmary] in an ambulance.”
