Barrymore appears on video link to UK court

Former British television star Michael Barrymore, who now lives in Auckland, has made his first British television appearance for three years - to give evidence against a man who accused him of sexual assault.

A video link enabled him to give evidence against Lee O'Brien, 23, who also claimed the comic forced him to smoke cannabis after he visited his house to give him flowers.

O'Brien, of Liverpool, told newspapers he was molested at Barrymore's Essex mansion in October 2002, but he was found guilty on Wednesday of falsely accusing Barrymore of sexually assaulting him, the Daily Record newspaper reported.

The Liverpool Crown Court effectively ruled Barrymore only gave him coffee and offered to help arrange tickets to a show.

O'Brien met the former TV star in December 2001 at his Essex home but 10 months later he told police he'd been assaulted.

The claim was able to be disproved because Barrymore's assistant was present throughout the meeting.

Police were also suspicious, as O'Brien went to watch two of Barrymore's shows a month later, and at the first, witnesses said, he was "on a high" and he even joined the entertainer on stage.

But later another audience member said O'Brien was "in a foul mood", saying "he didn't believe in Barrymore any more".

- NZPA