Phillip Schofield says ‘I no longer have a brother’ after verdict

Phillip Schofield has released a statement after his brother Timothy was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over three years.

He was charged with 11 sexual offences between 2016 and 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child.

TV presenter Phillip Schofield said: “My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family. I hope that their privacy will now be respected.

“If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family.

“These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.”

The jury found him guilty on all counts with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

The 54-year-old, a civilian police worker from Bath, told the jury while giving evidence that he had watched pornography with the boy.

Timothy denied the charges but was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child.

Judge Mrs Justice Cutts remanded him in custody ahead of sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on May 19.

Last week, the jury heard closing speeches from the prosecutor as well as Schofield’s defending lawyer.

Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said: “There are good reasons why society – and we here are all part of this society and the law which is founded because of society – treats those under 18 and those under 16 not as full adults.

“Society tries to protect children from adults who want to abuse them and tries to protect children from themselves.”

“We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child.”

The prosecutor added that the evidence the court had seen showed the victim “is not motivated by hate and lies”.

Phillip did not appear on ITV’s This Morning last week with the studio saying he was taking “pre-planned leave”.

Giving evidence during the trial, the defendant told the jury he had been gay his “entire life” but had kept it “completely secret and hidden from everybody”.

He described this as “incredibly difficult” and told the court he had struggled with mental health problems for years.”