Scott Mills

[MrsDimSum]

And Steve Brookstein has entered the chat how is he still relevant

 

[Tiggerhappy]

Lots of things can be true.

The 80s and 90s were a very very very different time. Some of us growing up then would have been horrified at being approached by older men (I know i was) but plenty of girls i was at school with loved the attention. Does that mean they were not taken advantage of? Or that they deserved it? Definitely not.

I do have sympathy for the blokes who were lied to about the younger person's age though.

When watching Queer as Folk at the time (I was probably 19) i was uncomfortable with the age gap/power imbalance but i put that down to my own perspective.

I've been on tattle for years and this is the first time I've seen anything about Scott (despite some people now saying they not know of grooming victims... why not say it before?). I can't say I particularly liked him but I was very shocked by the news. We don't know if the BBC have acted harshly or not, but given their history you can see why they would prefer to be harsh than lenient with a 'new' allegation.

The 3 year thing does add more complications... but it's entirely possible that Scott met this person occasionally in a club over a long period and got involved with them regularly without knowing very much about them. There was a lot of casual relationships back then, particularly in the gay scene. In a city like London its fairly easy to remain anonymous, especially without social media. I'm not saying this is what happened but it's a possibility.

 

[Boogs]

Yes, 3 things stand out to me here. The length of time it went on, the fact its being reported as serious sexual offences and the carefully worded statement he put out. Just because there weren’t rumours about him it doesn’t mean that things weren’t happening. Some abusers can be very charming and covert. This situation doesn’t sit well with me at all.

 

[Halister]

When I was 15 a huge Soap Star (at the time) snogged me, and had a bit of a grope … if I’m being really honest it didn’t bother me then, and doesn’t bother me now … in fact I was quite pleased about the whole thing at the time. Looking back it was wrong, it was the late 80s, things were different.

I also had a number of young gay friends who were hanging round Manchester, nearly all of them had odd relationships with men older than them, who were basically financing thier lifestyles, in a “my TV broke” “well here’s a new one” type way. We never really thought anything of it, just laughed at the older guys for being idiots (just to be clear, this was at the time). The scene in Manchester in the early 90s was wild.

Scott Mills, I do wonder whether these “communications” were to do with people threatening to go to the press. I suppose time will tell.

 

[Mark81]

Yeah I dont see much wrong, aside the possible cheating, in the start of their relationship. 28 and 44 isnt an awful gap. 28 you're a fully grown man, no relationship power issue and depending on the individuals involved, not necessarily a big difference in mentalities.

If it was bad from the inside, then only he can say that.

 

[DoreenMachine]

Even though the Daily Mail isn't fit to line the bottom of your pet rat's cage with, you have to hand it to some of their writers who manage to construct an entire article with absolutely zero news whatsoever.

 

[Traazers]

Well that’s cleared things up then

 

[VeniVidiVicki]

I don’t know if he’s guilty or not but the CPS deciding there is no enough evidence to feasibly secure a conviction is not ‘essentially cleared’. The alleged victim didn’t go to the police until 15 years after the time. I would imagine securing a conviction when digital media wasn’t a thing would be incredibly difficult. How do you provide evidence?

 

[Merpedy]

I was around in the 90s and never found someone under 16 attractive.

And to have a three (?) year long relationship with someone and not notice that they're much much younger than you... lol

Even in online spaces it becomes quite obvious if someone is considerably younger than you imo

 

[2ofeach]

There's something really offputting about Scott Mills and his friends doing a victimhood tour.

Maybe just keep your head down for a while until appropriate. He's gone all Ant McPartlin with the papped dog walks and his friends keep on about how worried they are.

Maybe don't try to overshadow the alleged victim right when it's all fresh news again?

In all seriousness his friends & family are right to be concerned. Anyone having their life turned upside down be it of their own fault or not are likely to be a bit 'fragile'.
Whatever happened he clearly thought it was well in the past so the carpets been well & truly ripped from beneath his feet.
And don't blame the poor dog for needing a walk as it's definitely an innocent party in all of this!

As someone previously said, he has to venture out at some point, rip off the plaster. If he hides he's shameful, if he goes out in public he's shameless.... man cant win

 

[WhyYouCry?]

No opinion on the sacking issue as we don't have much info.

I would like to point out that yes pretty much all of us have a story of snogging and or more with someone older, when out. That is hugely different to something that spans three years. So those who are forgiving that can get in the bin.

Agreed. This wasn’t a one off in a night club so I have no idea why people are making that comparison.

 

[Bread]

i can understand your point for sure and yes of course some horrible people make things up (and i hate them just as much as abusers) BUT he’s been investigated by the police to the point a case was presented to the cps AND sacked from his job, those things aren’t going to both happen without some sort of proof.

I personally have seen both sides, i’ve been the victim of CSA for 8 long years of my childhood and because i was so frightened and confused about what happened to me by the time i reported it, it was essentially too late. The cps refused the case due to my mental state at the time (due to the abuse) and the fact id left it so long there was no “concrete” evidence but it happened and it was real and the officers even said we know he’s done it but without the cps we can’t do anything.

I’ve lived my whole life with that and from the other side someone who i was extremely close to was accused of SA and at first i didn’t want to believe it either because “surely not?!” but yes, they did do it even though there was no criminal conviction again and they also got sacked so both of these are why i am so “there’s no smoke with out fire” type of opinion.

Im sorry (not sorry at all actually) but i honestly think a lot of you will be ashamed when you others step forward and more comes out.

And I am so terribly sorry that you have gone through that. Your bravery going to the police cannot be overestimated. I hope you got support and treatment to help you come to terms with this.

 

[Boogs]

We don’t know he was 15, that’s an assumption that’s being made as it says he was under 16. Also serious sexual assaults against a minor are still horrific crimes whether the perpetrator is 24 or 50.

 

[Mark81]

I think there is or was some cultural aspect to it (as there would have been with older richer guys buying younger girls drinks or fancying them or liking “jailbait”) but also things have evolved in the last 10 - 20 years and that whole thing is more often condemned (Both gay and straight). On Millionaire Matchmaker Patty is always talking about guys wanting “spinners” that’s pretty vile.

I think there Is some nuance and with Spacey it’s a bit like that pervy PE/Drama/Music teacher at school who used to always date Sixth formers and with Schofe it’s so far outside of acceptable as he knew the kid as pre-pubescent through to “unwise but not illegal” those are wrong whether boys or girls, it’s not homophobic to think so.

Scott having a younger hubby, Fry having a much younger hubby - meh those facts alone aren‘t problematic.

For me , with Fry its not the age gaps themselves. Its the fact that the guys look so much younger. Hes clearly into very young looking guys, gives me the ick a bit.

Tom Daleys relationship is icky. Lance met him when he was very young and vulnerable after his dad died. He even admitted as much in an interview, which now seems to have vanished from the Internet from what I can tell.

 

[Merpedy]

Verifying Device

Jeremy Vine isn't afraid of the sack for speaking out. He's right. It's crazy someone has been sacked for something thirty years ago, that he was cleared of ten years ago and never been arrested for.

Would we have the same opinion if this was a woman making an allegation against a male presenter?

Because personally I don’t think I would and I would find anyone who suggests that it should be overlooked as questionable

 

[Bread]

In your first paragraph, are you actually saying that you might have committed a sexual offence without realising? Come on now!

No; it just makes you examine your former life and wonder who might come out and say things about you. I surely can't be the only person who wonders what damage could be wreaked by a former partner or whatever.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I was at a uni house party and wound up getting off with a boy who I was told the next day was 15. I was horrified. It had never occurred to me a child would be at uni party and I also was livid with not being told at the time. I'm female and was 19. I know it's not the same thing as what we're talking about here but remembering it makes me feel quite ill.

 

[katz2022]

My gut feeling with this was Scott had a relationship of sorts with someone 14-15 when he was 22-23.

I'm not sure if his statement disproves this as if this was the case admitting it, even with the caveat of thinking the boy was older, would be admitting a crime that the CPS have found not enough evidence to charge. There's the guidance about if you genuinely believe someone is 14+ then that is a defence, but this seems very grey.

Back when I was 15 so many of us had fake ID and said we were 18. I can't remember challenge 25 being a thing 30 years ago.

Obviously my gut feeling is biased by my personal opinion of Scott and that (unlike many others) there hasn't been a lot of rumours about him that predate the sacking.

But this incident wasn’t a one off apparently. People don’t seem to realise that this allegedly spread over a three year period? No one could conceal their age that whole time. It would be glaringly obvious that someone was just a boy.

 

[AllSeeingEye123]

He speaks a lot of sense.

 

[Magwitch]

That's it. When clubbing we trust the door men to do their job correctly and keep out those underage. We aren't going to ask someone in a club if we can see their photo ID to kill the mood. Women especially can easily make themselves look way older with make up and clothes. It would be quite easy for someone to end up kissing someone who shouldn't be in there, especially with booze involved.

There has always been underage sex stories in the press about people getting picked up on nights out.

Bloody hell, I've seen some crazy stuff on here today, but this is beyond. No, it is not up to bouncers to help prevent you from groping a minor! If you think someone might be underage you absolutely can and should ask to see some ID, or, you know, just leave them alone, despite the fact that it might 'kill the mood'.

 

[pixxyy]

Back to Scott....

https://archive.is/luBIt

It's not surprise he's getting plenty of support and the bosses aren't well liked. This isn't like other cases where floodgates opened. It's one person. It could be someone who wanted a job that Scott said no to and went for revenge. It could be literally anything.

You really are determined to make him innocent, he could be but jeez