Jim Davidson: Star falsely accused of sexual assault in Wolverhampton club
A false allegation of sexual assault made against Jim Davidson arose from Wolverhampton, the comedian has revealed during a show in the region.
The former Generation Game and Big Break host was arrested in 2014 by Operation Yewtree detectives following allegations of sexual assault. He was never charged and the investigation was dropped nine months later.
Speaking about the allegations during a show in Stafford, the 63-year-old revealed he was falsely accused of sexually assaulting a woman while at a working men’s club in Wolverhampton.
The comedian spoke of his experiences in the light of allegations over sexual assault that have swept the entertainment industry and brought scandal to the House of Common. While the debate has been welcomed, there have been concerns it has become a witch hunt and that innocent parties could be wrongly implicated.
The audience at the Gatehouse Theatre heard how Davidson’s lawyer told him he had been accused of lifting a woman’s miniskirt when he had been at a bar in Wolverhampton. The comedian recalled: “I said ‘oh, and then what? I sexually assaulted her later or what?’
“He said no, that’s the sexual assault you have been arrested for.
“And I remember trying to rack my brains thinking where was I? Had I been to Wolverhampton?
“I told my lawyer I had never been there and in that period of time I was working at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road. So I phoned up the ex-wife Tracy and said ‘did I ever go to a working man’s club in Wolverhampton?’ ‘Yes’ she said.
“She said ‘you came up with me and my dad and we went to see a comedian. You had just met my mom and dad for the first time. All of a sudden you had gone and we didn’t know where you had gone and then you appeared on stage telling jokes.’
“I said to her ‘did I pull a woman’s skirt up’ and she said ‘are you mad? You were trying to impress me, not scare me off.’
“So that was all those kind of things you can find out.
“I presented it all to the police and lo and behold nine months later and £600,000 costs to me they phoned up and said ‘no further action.’
“It was the year from hell – but I managed to get through it.”
Davidson did not state precisely when the incident was falsely alleged to have taken place.
He gave the account during a performance at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on Wednesday.
The show was part of his ’40 Years On’ tour which has been going for nine months.
