The former Blue Peter presenter John Leslie has been cleared of a charge of sexual assault dating back more than a decade. Leslie sobbed and leant forward in the dock as a jury at Southwark crown court returned a not guilty verdict after deliberating for just 23 minutes following a week-long trial. Leslie, 55, had been accused of grabbing a woman’s breasts after shaking hands with her at a pre-Christmas party in the West End of London. Leslie had told the jury he could not remember being at the party, and described the single allegation of sexual assault from 5 December 2008 as “crazy” and “ludicrous”. Giving evidence, he said: “I would not have touched her like some mannequin and walked off.” He told the jury he had previously been made out to be an “aggressive, sexual monster” by the tabloid press, as he denied ever assaulting any woman, saying it was “not in my nature”. Leslie had told jurors his life changed completely in 2002 when he was mistakenly identified on live television as the unnamed alleged rapist in his former girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson’s autobiography. The presenter Matthew Wright later apologised, saying he named him in error, the court was told. Jonsson has never made any complaint to police, the jury heard. In 2003, two charges of indecent assault against him made by one woman were dropped, and not guilty verdicts recorded at the same London court where he faced trial this year. Then the judge told him he could leave the court “without a stain on his character”. The court also heard he was arrested and interviewed by police in 2008 regarding an allegation of rape and indecent assault said to have happened in 1995, but there was insufficient evidence to charge and no further action was taken. Addressing Leslie, charged under his real name, John Leslie Stott, after Monday’s verdict, Judge Deborah Taylor said: “Mr Stott, you for the second time leave this court without a stain on your character and I hope it will be the last time you have to attend.” As he left the dock, Leslie hugged his father, Les Stott, who was also in tears and who had attended the trial throughout. Leslie made no comment as he left the court. Leslie, from Edinburgh, said there had never been any sexual assault allegations against him before his name was wrongly linked to the book, and described the fallout as “Armageddon”. He said the tabloids were “gunning for me”, adding “they decided I was their man”, and there had been “adverts for women to come forward with allegations”. Leslie had told jurors he would not have assaulted the woman, saying: “I was paranoid, I was aware and conscious of wherever I was. To go up to a total stranger I have never met and to do that is just ludicrous.” He said that he never crossed the line between behaving “gregariously” and criminal behaviour. In her summing up, the judge warned the jury of nine men and three women not to speculate about previous allegations made against him, and to concentrate only on this charge. He was supported during the trial by friends and former Blue Peter colleagues Anthea Turner, Diane Louise Jordan, Yvette Fielding and ex-This Morning co-host Fern Britton, all of whom gave character references. Turner said Leslie was “absolutely adored” by women who worked with him and “incredibly respectful”, while Britton said the allegation did not “sound like the man that I know in the slightest”.