Agencies
London
TV weatherman Fred Talbot was yesterday found guilty of sex offences against two teenage boys when he was a teacher at the Altrincham Grammar School for Boys in the mid-1970s.
Talbot, once voted Weatherman Of The Year, was remanded in custody after being convicted of indecent assault at Manchester Minshull Street crown court after three days of deliberation by the jury. He will be sentenced on March 13.
The jury cleared him of assaulting three other boys. Talbot, 65, was described in court as “a chancer” who used his “boundless energy” and “extrovert personality” to gain the affection and trust of his victims.
He was said to have been obsessed with teenage boys throughout his teaching career and “could not help himself” around them when under the influence of drink.
Talbot, 65, had resigned in disgrace from the school in 1984 after making indecent comments to two 15-year-old pupils but hid the indiscretion when his big TV break came a year later.
He continued to cover his tracks when police first investigated him in 1992 and lied again to detectives in the current investigation when they uncovered a host of diaries which were littered with references to sexual encounters.
Talbot was passive as the jury foreman read out the verdicts, but he looked slightly surprised as he was told he was to be remanded in custody, and nodded to the jurors before he left the dock.
Talbot is also the subject of a historical abuse inquiry in Scotland. A number of similar complaints against Talbot have been passed by police to the Procurator Fiscal about offences said to have been committed in Scotland.
Among the prosecution witnesses at the trial were The Stone Roses singer Ian Brown who told of Talbot’s behaviour during biology lessons when he was an 11-year-old boy.
Following the verdicts, senior investigating officer detective constable Chris Doggart said: “Talbot was an extremely popular and well liked individual - both as a celebrity weatherman and formerly as a science teacher - who earned not only the trust and adulation of many of his peers and pupils, but also much of the nation.
“Now he has been exposed as an opportunistic sex offender and that reputation is rightly in tatters.
In a statement, Altrincham Grammar School for Boys said: “These awful events took place over 30 years ago and naturally our thoughts go out to those former pupils who were subjected to this abuse.
“We are confident that our present pupils and their parents know that the school is totally committed to ensuring the safety of our students and staff at all times and that these historic offences have no bearing on the school’s outstanding reputation today.”
Talbot has presented the weather forecast on most ITV channels but is best known for his stint on the This Morning programme when it was broadcast from Albert Dock in Liverpool.