Phillip Schofield’s brother ‘sexually abused schoolboy’ before confiding in TV star, court hears

The 54-year-old allegedly confided in his brother Phillip and travelled to his home to tell him he had an “obsessive sexual interest” in the boy.

Timothy reportedly informed his brother that he and the teenager had special “time” together, to which he replied with “what the hell is [that]?”

The court heard that Phillip warned his younger sibling that it should “never happen again”, before giving a vital statement to police which is a key part of the case against him.

Timothy from Bath, Somerset, is charged with 11 counts of sexual offences against the boy over three years from October 2016, all of which he denies.

He is accused of causing him to watch sex acts and engage in sex acts.

The court heard he also allegedly performed sex acts in front of the victim.

The jury heard that Timothy, a civilian IT police worker, encouraged the victim to watch pornography with him and carry out sexual acts together.

Some of the pornography reportedly showed heterosexual sex while other sexual material involved scenes of violence and some with animals.

The offences were carried out in the Bristol and south Gloucestershire areas between 2016 and 2019, the jury were told.

By August 2021, the victim had a girlfriend and confronted Timothy, telling him the abuse had to stop.

Timothy also told the victim his “penis did not work properly” due to illness and medication he was taking, the court heard.

The alleged abuse came to light after the victim spoke to counsellors and the police became involved.

He described Timothy as "evil and vile" adding that he had a "terrible temper".

Police examined his laptops and phone as the jury heard they found searches for "young teen box set" and "gay teen porn torrents".

The jury heard how Timothy’s alleged victim confronted him in August 2021 and said “things” need to stop, which was a month before Timothy visited his brother to confide in him.

Prosecutor Peter Stellard KC said the “perverted relationship” was “affecting” Timothy as well as his alleged victim.

He said: “On the 12th of September 2021 he phoned his brother Phillip saying that his head was in a mess and could he come and see him.

“The defendant is seven years younger than Phillip and they had not been particularly close growing up, however in December 2019 the defendant told his brother he was gay.

“According to Phillip the defendant travelled up that day and he was extremely agitated. His brother described him as very angry and distressed.”

The jury was asked to ignore any distractions from Phillip Schofield’s fame, stressing that it had no relevance to the case.

The trial, which is expected to last a week, continues.