Ben Freeman axed from 'Emmerdale'

[Perdita]

Wonder whether this means he is coming back to Emmerdale.

Spoiler:

Need another bad boy in the village seeing that Matthew is leaving shortly.

[Bad Wolf]

dunno, mud sticks, he might not work again........

[*-Rooney-*]

he was axed so he prob wont be back, he should have just been suspended until the trial was over and if it came back guilty then axe him

[Chris_2k11]

its a shame now, thats his career more or less over with

[Pinkbanana]

According to the two Sunday papers I read today, Ben is in talks with Emmerdale about returning to the soap.

[Bad Wolf]

i read that too, maybe he will go back?

[thestud2k7]

if he does return good luck to him

[Perdita]

Actor Ben Freeman has spoken of his 'anger, joy and relief' at being cleared of rape - branding his two-year ordeal a 'complete horror'.

Last week, a jury pronounced the former Emmerdale star not guilty of raping a 16-year-old schoolgirl on a sun-lounger at a Barbados hotel.
It meant the end of a nightmarish couple of years for the actor, who saw his life and career come to a standstill as he waited desperately for his name to be cleared.

The 28-year-old told the Sunday Mirror: 'My feelings are a mixture of anger, joy and relief. I'm not really feeling happiness. I'm angry because I was accused of rape in the first place and I never did it.
'At the time, things happened so fast - I was accused, arrested, charged and a statement was taken all in a matter of hours. I couldn't believe what was happening to me.
'Everything in my life was falling apart and it was all based on lies. It was complete horror.'

Ben, who had been on holiday with his two younger sisters and step-father, had to return to the scene of the incident, and give his clothes to police to examine.
He then had to say goodbye to his sisters at the airport and wait another week before he was bailed and allowed to return to the UK.

'I am still so angry for my family because they've had to go through every horrendous moment with me.'
Ben was not allowed to stay at his mother's house, even for Christmas, as she is a foster-carer and had children living there.
Ben said: 'Rape is the most horrendous thing to be accused of.

'It is one of the most heinous crimes and when you are accused of it as a well-known figure it is magnified a hundred times. It is true to say I've lost two years of my life.'
The case meant that Ben, who earned £100,000 a year in Emmerdale, could not work, and he had to mortgage his house in Leeds 'to the hilt' to pay for his £200,000 defence costs.
The accusation also affected the way he was treated by others.

'There have been times when I just felt like a monster and people in the street would pull children away from me, saying "Don't go near that man."'

He admits, though, that he is not entirely without blame.
'I don't absolve myself from all guilt. I didn't do anything illegal - but it was very stupid.
'Having sex with a girl aged 16 in an open place was naive and immature.'

He added that he does not normally find 16-year-olds attractive, and that he made a mistake with 'enormous consequences'.
During the trial, the actor admitted he knew the girl, who is from Cheshire, was 16 at the time but said she never resisted his advances as he denied the charge at the High Court in Bridgetown, Barbados.
He said they first began kissing one evening after larking around in the hotel pool and then went on to have sex on a nearby lounger.
When the jury delivered the verdict at the end of the six-day trial, tears and screams of joy instantly broke out from his family's section in the court.
The first person he called was his mother, Caroline.
He then phoned his 97-year-old grandfather who, Ben says, has been in tears about the situation many times.

Now the actor is looking forward to getting his career back on track, and the soap bosses have said they will happily meet with him on his return to the UK.
He has also credited his girlfriend, actress Sophie Ladds, 32, for being 'very supportive' throughout the ordeal.

So perhaps we will see him back again.

[Perdita]

Ben Freeman made "bad choices" that led to him being accused of raping a girl, the actor has conceded.

The 28-year-old's trial in Barbados concluded with a 'not guilty' verdict on Friday. Freeman had been accused of forcing himself onto a 16-year-old British girl at a holiday resort in the country in 2006.

Speaking to This Morning, Freeman admitted that he regretted his actions and was eager to return to work.

"I do have to say that I made a lot of bad choices that I put myself in a position where someone can say that about me," he said. "The important point is that I didn't do anything illegal but it was silly."

Freeman played the role of mechanic Scott Windsor in Emmerdale from 1998 until 2007.

[Chloe O'brien]

I don't think Ben will be able to return to acting. Although he was found not guilty a lot of people will find it hard to accept it, look at John Lesile he has never been able to return to tv work after being accused of Rape.