Ex-weatherman Fred Talbot in court accused of indecently assaulting boys
Former TV weatherman Fred Talbot has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting several teenage boys on school trips.
Former TV weatherman Fred Talbot has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting several teenage boys on school trips.
He is also accused of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour towards a boy aged 12 on a trip.
Talbot, 67, went on trial at Lanark Sheriff Court on Monday after a jury of 15 men and women was selected.
The accused, from Greater Manchester, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Talbot is accused of carrying out the offences involving pupils aged 15-17 on trips in Scotland while he was employed as a school teacher.
He faces eight charges of indecent assault between January 1978 and November 1981 and one of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour in February 1978.
One of the charges alleges he gave a 15-year-old boy alcohol, rendering him intoxicated, during a camping trip.
Six of the incidents are alleged to have happened on camping excursions in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, and three on boating trips on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.
The trial, before Sheriff Nikola Stewart, is expected to last for two to three weeks.
In her initial remarks to the jurors, Sheriff Stewart told them it is "vitally important" they do not carry out any of their own investigations in relation to the case.
She also told them not to discuss the case with anyone else and to keep an open mind about it until they have heard all of the evidence and speeches.