Phillip Schofield’s brother told the This Morning host that he had watched pornography and taken part in sexual acts with a teenage boy, a court has heard.
Timothy Schofield, 54, phoned the presenter “in an agitated and upset state” before admitting what he had done with the boy, Exeter crown court heard on Wednesday.
Phillip invited his brother, a civilian police worker in IT, to drive several hours from Bath to his home in London, where they spent several hours talking and ate a meal together in September 2021.
In a written statement, he said: “I was washing up and Tim was standing behind me and he said: ‘You are going to hate me for what I am about to say.’
“I said there was nothing he could say that would make me hate him. Then he said that he and [the boy] had time together and that last year they had watched porn … and [masturbated].
“I turned and said: ‘What did you just say?’ He said it was last year and ‘we were alone together’. Tim said it was just this once. I told him it should never happen again.”
The ITV star said he told his brother that he didn’t want to hear any more after Timothy began discussing the boy’s body, the court heard.
Schofield went on: “He then started to tell me about [the boy’s] body. I said: ‘Fuck, stop.’ I shouted at Tim that he had to stop. I didn’t want to know any of the details but he made it sound like a one-off.
“I said: ‘I don’t want you to tell me any more.’ I said: ‘You’ve got to stop, just never do it again. Regardless how that happened, it must never happen again.’
“Tim would say it was just ‘[boy] time’. I said: ‘What the hell is [boy] time?’”
Timothy Schofield is on trial charged with 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, which are alleged to have started when the alleged victim was a teenager. The most serious charge involved a sex act with the child.
Other alleged offences include forcing the child to watch pornography and to engage in sexual activity, as well as engaging in sexual activity in the child’s presence.
Phillip Schofield has been absent from This Morning so far this week, with Alison Hammond presenting the daytime show alongside cohost Holly Willoughby. The studio said he was taking “pre-planned leave” this week.
PA Media contributed to this report
