Langham's sons rally to his defence over child sex charges

Siencyn, 30, Dafydd, 24, and Glyn, 21, made a pointed show of solidarity before walking into Maidstone Crown Court with the Bafta-winning actor, who is accused of sexual offences relating to children.

Langham, 58, who also has two young children from his second marriage, smiled from the dock as his two elder sons gave evidence for the defence.

Scroll down for more ...

The star of the political satire The Thick Of It is accused of downloading a string of images of child pornography and grooming a teenage girl for sexual abuse.

Siencyn, who works in television as an assistant editor, said he had first met the alleged victim at the Palace Theatre, where his father was performing in Les Miserables. He recalled another occasion where they all had dinner together.

However, he struggled to recall her presence while he was working with his father on the BBC sitcom Kiss Me Kate, which ran from 1998 to 2000.

He was asked to look at pictures of himself and the alleged victim, taken on the set of the production in Nottingham. But he said he did not remember having contact with the girl - now 25 - who claims she had sexual encounters with Langham at hotels and in his theatre dressing room while underage.

Siencyn was then asked about another occasion when the teenager was alleged to have travelled to a hotel with his father during filming.

He replied: 'No, I can't remember seeing her there, but I think I have possibly blocked occasions when she was there because I slightly resented other people being there on occasions when it was supposed to be me, my dad and my brothers.'

Dafydd, who uses his mother's surname, also recalled meeting the girl when he was about 14 or 15 and she was a year older.

He told the court how his father had asked him and his brothers to speak to her to 'help' the alleged victim overcome problems in her life, including an eating disorder.

He added: 'He reckoned it would be beneficial for her to meet us, as we'd been through difficult times and she was going through difficult times - through osmosis we could pass on the means of getting through bad times.

'Me and my brother attempted to speak to her the first couple of times and she had no interest in us. She was a similar age as myself, we tried to discuss things with her, to talk to her, but she just didn't seem to want to talk to us.'

The court heard how, as young children, the brothers lived with Langham at a time when he was drinking heavily and using drugs.

After yesterday's lunch break, the three brothers took seats at the rear of the court as they listened to the prosecution's closing speech.

They heard Richard Barraclough, QC, describe their father as a 'consummate actor' and accuse him of 'blackening' his accuser's character.

Mr Barraclough said the girl had been 'enthralled' and 'seduced' by the 'very intelligent' Langham.

He told the jury: 'Mr Langham is a renowned and respected actor, he is a man who has been very generous to many people.

'He has a family and for him and for them, this entire case is an utterly miserable tragedy.'

Claiming the woman had been 'robbed of innocence', he said the jury had to think dispassionately.

Of the images, he said to Langham: 'You don't look into the perpetrators' eyes, you look into the eyes of those abused and degraded girls.

'This defendant sadly, tragically, has an abnormal lust for sexual activity with young girls.'

Closing for the defence, David Whitehouse, QC, said Langham was a 'grown-up abused child'.

He told the jury that even if they did not consider it a sufficient defence that Langham viewed indecent images because he had suffered abuse as a child, there were other grounds to clear him of the charges.

As for the abuse allegations, he said Langham is 'totally innocent', branding the accuser 'mentally unstable' and an 'attention-seeker'.

Langham, of Golford, Kent, denies making indecent photographs of children, indecent assault and other sexual offences.

The trial continues.