Doctor ordered to give evidence during delayed sex trial of former Leeds councillor Ron Grahame

The former Burmantofts and Richmond Hill councillor is due to stand trial in July, but issues over his fitness to plea have left the case hanging in the balance.

In a short hearing at Leeds Crown Court today, his defence counsel Allan Armbrister said neurologists’ reports into Grahame’s health concluded that the 79-year-old not fit to stand trial.

But Judge Andrew Stubbs KC said: “I’m uncomfortable to make that assessment without hearing it from the doctors. We need to set it down so a judge can hear the evidence. On paper, I’m not satisfied on balance that he is unfit to be tried.”

It was agreed by Judge Stubbs, Mr Armbrister and prosecutor Heather Gilmore that the doctor’s evidence should be given at on the day the trial is due to start, July 10.

Grahame, of Swardale Green, Swarcliffe, was charged with attempted rape and serious sex offences dating back to the early 1980s. He was originally charged in December 2020.

He denies attempting to rape a girl under 16 years of age between October 4, 1981 and October 4, 1982.

Grahame is also charged with attempting to commit a further serious sexual offence, and faces two charges of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14, between October 4, 1980 and October 4, 1982. He also denies each of those charges.

In July of 2021, a judge was told that Grahame had been assessed as being fit to enter pleas to the charges brought against him.

A trial had been scheduled to take place in June last year and then again in December, but it was postponed on both occasions amid concerns about Grahame’s fitness to stand trial.

Crown Prosecution Service guidance states that a defendant should, wherever possible, face a normal criminal trial so that there can be a “robust and open” consideration of the evidence. It says every effort should be made, using reasonable adjustments, to ensure a defendant can participate effectively wherever possible.

Grahame was the councillor for Burmantofts and Richmond Hill until May 2022. He was first elected onto Leeds City Council to represent Whinmoor in 1982.