Former Neighbours star Craig McLachlan charged with sex offences

Australian actor Craig McLachlan will stand trial next month accused of assault and sex offences, according to reports.

The 53-year-old - who found fame with a starring role in Neighbours in the 1980s - is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 8 February, Sky News reports. He faces a total of ten assault charges.

NewsHub reports that the offences are alleged to have happened while he was working in The Rocky Horror Show musical in Melbourne, Victoria, in 2014. McLachlan “was accused of inappropriate behaviour” by fellow cast members, according to the New Zealand-based site.

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Victoria Police told Sky News: “Melbourne Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team have charged a 53-year-old New South Wales man on one count of common law assault, eight counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.”

A spokesperson for McLachlan told local media: “Craig is innocent of these charges, which will be vigorously defended.”

The London Evening Standard reports that the stage and screen star has previously insisted there is no truth in the claims, which he says were “perhaps made for financial reasons [or] to gain notoriety”.

McLachlan is seeking special damages of AU$6.5m (£3.7m) as part of a defamation case against two Australian news organisations - Fairfax Media and the Australian Broadcasting Corp- and former Rocky Horror Show co-star Christie Whelan Browne.

The defamation hearing is due to begin on 4 February - four days before he is scheduled to appear in court over the abuse charges.

McLachlan is best known to UK audiences for his portrayal of Henry Ramsay, the brother of Kylie Minogue’s character, Charlene, on Neighbours, between 1987 and 1989.

The role won him a Logie - the Australian equivalent of a Bafta - and helped him launch a secondary career as a singer. In 1990, his cover of the Bo Diddley hit Mona reached No. 2 in the UK charts.