Charges dropped against Britain’s Got Talent coach

The coach of a gymnastics troupe that won ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent has spoken of “18 months of hell” he suffered after being accused of child cruelty. Charges against Neil Griffiths, a national gymnastics coach regarded as one of the best in the country, were dropped last week before the case was brought to trial. Friends said the charges had been “baseless” and resulted from a “witch hunt” by some disaffected parents of children he had trained. The decision to drop the charges followed a review of the evidence by a senior crown prosecution lawyer.

Mr Griffiths, 42, from Ashford, Surrey, had coached the gymnastics troupe Spelbound to victory in the ITV talent contest in 2010, in a final watched by 15 million people. Mr Griffiths had always said he was innocent after being initially questioned in July last year about complaints made by the parents of three children. He received widespread support from his former gymnasts and their parents, who mounted a Facebook campaign to help clear his name.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11818763/Charges-dropped-against-Britains-Got-Talent-coach.html