Kevin Spacey: What have we learned from his sex offences trial?

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Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has been found not guilty of nine sex offences following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Spacey, 64, was alleged to have “aggressively” grabbed the crotches of three men and performing a sex act on another man who was asleep in his flat in the period between 2001 and 2013.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what we have learned from the trial.

– What allegations were the jury asked to deliver verdicts on?

Spacey was accused of seven charges of sexual assault, one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity.

– When were the alleged offences said to have taken place?

The defendant was accused of committing the offences between 2001 and 2013.

– How many accusers gave evidence during the trial?

Four male accusers gave evidence in the trial.

– What did the first accuser say during his evidence?

The first accuser told jurors Spacey grabbed his crotch so hard he almost “came off the road” while he drove him to a lavish showbiz party hosted by Sir Elton John in the early 2000s.

The court also heard the Hollywood star was alleged to have stroked the complainant’s leg, rubbed his neck, sexually touched him over his clothing and smacked his bottom several times.

– What did the second accuser tell the court?

The second accuser claimed Spacey had a “panicked” look on his face after he rejected the star’s alleged crotch grab during a party at an expensive property the actor was staying at in the Cotswolds in the early 2010s.

The man, who met the actor in a pub near Oxford, told jurors Spacey kissed his neck twice before grabbing him, saying “Be cool, be cool”.

– What did the third accuser tell the jury?

Spacey’s third accuser said the actor had grabbed his crotch “like a cobra” following a “barrage of vile comments” after meeting him in a West End theatre in the mid-2000s.

The man told jurors the defendant was “hiding in plain sight”, claiming the alleged incident made him feel “belittled” and “worthless”.

– What did Spacey’s final accuser tell the court?

The final accuser to give evidence said he believed Spacey had performed a sex act on him while he was asleep in the Hollywood star’s London flat.

The aspiring actor said he had written to Spacey asking for mentorship, but later broke down as he told police about the alleged encounter – claiming the defendant to be “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”.

– What did Spacey say during his evidence?

The two-time Academy Award-winning actor said the charges against him made “no sense” and described them as “madness” and a “stab in the back”.

He wiped tears from his eyes in the witness box as he told jurors his world “exploded” when allegations against him first emerged on the internet in 2017.

Spacey also told the court he could have sex “all the time”, described the prosecution’s case against him as “weak”, and claimed his victims were after “money, money and then money”.

– Who else gave evidence during the trial?

Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish told jurors about a lavish showbiz party they hosted in the early 2000s.

The Candle In The Wind singer said Spacey went straight to the ball at his house after flying in on a private jet, then bought a Mini Cooper at the event and stayed the night.

– What other famous names were mentioned in the trial?

Spacey spoke of giving a ping pong table to Dame Judi Dench, said he stayed in a flat belonging to the son of Harry Potter actor Richard Harris, and received a character reference from Dead Poet’s Society star Robert Sean Leonard.

Other famous names mentioned in the trial included Dame Joan Collins, Val Kilmer and Jack Lemmon.