Britain's Got Talent finalist cries in court as he denies raping two women
A former Britain's Got Talent finalist who landed a record deal with Simon Cowell paused to fight back tears as he told a court he never raped two women. On Wednesday Andrew Johnston, 30, described his lovemaking as "fast, energetic, maybe a bit passionate" but told the jury at London's Southwark Crown Court he was never aggressive, always used a condom and the sex was consensual.
Johnston, who shot to fame as a choirboy when he came third in the show in 2008, is charged with raping and sexually assaulting one woman and raping another woman.
Johnson said he had been messaging and dating a lot around the time of the alleged offences. Johnston, of Carlisle, Cumbria, denies two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
Johnston told the jury he has suffered from depression, his mental health is "terrible" and he has broken up with a girlfriend.
Recalling this period Johnston paused and put his head down before saying: "I was in a bad place. I was just in a really bad place."
Asked about the impact on his life, he added: "I had lost everything my career, my girlfriend over this period of time. I just got into a bad state really quickly. I have never sung a note since. I can't bring myself to."
Stopping to drop his head and in a shaky voice, he added: "I just can't bring myself to."
His alleged victims claim he slipped the condom off during sex and continued having intercourse, while one of them also also alleges he groped her bum and kissed her when she saw him at a club.
In relation to the first rape allegation, defence counsel Rupert Kent asked Johnston if he "at any time" reasonably believed that she was not consenting.
Johnston replied: "It was always consenting." He was also asked if he touched her, and Johnston answered "no never".
Johnston, who is now a full-time roofer, told the court that these charges "are on my mind every single day". Mr Kent asked: "Are you guilty of these three charges?" Johnston replied: "I am not at all."
Earlier he had said: "I have waited to have my say on this. I have waited to give evidence but it is not easy."
He described the situation as "awful", adding: "It is not me. It is not the way I was brought up. It is not something I would do and it does not sound like me at all."
Johnston was born in Dumfries, Scotland, but moved when he was about eight-months-old.
He said he has been suffering from depression since the allegations were made against him which led to the break-up of a relationship.
"I was really suffering with depression. It was quite hard so we called quits on it," he said. "It started instantly when I heard about these allegations but it just got gradually worse as time went on and spiralled until I went on medication for it."
His mother entered him on BGT where he impressed the judges including Cowell with his version of Pie Jesu and Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven. He came third and went on to sign a contract with Cowell, released an album that went to number four in the UK charts and appeared in a UK Tour with other finalists.
The early stardom stopped as his voice changed prompting him to make a shift and sing in a lower range.
He told the court: "It went on for a couple of years until my voice started to change. It became a bit difficult to sing the songs I was singing in the show."
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