Experience ‘ruined’ entertainer Sil’s life

VETERAN entertainer Sylvester ‘Sil’ Fox said he was left “devastated” after he was accused of sexual assault – he was later cleared of the offence – and said he is bringing legal action forward about it.

Sil, who lives in Templeogue and turns 91 this month, said the experience “ruined his life” and he is in the process of bringing legal action against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The accusation came about after Sil agreed to take a selfie with a woman in city centre pub Harry’s on the Green on December 17, 2018, and she later said that he had groped her.

Sil denied the allegation and his solicitors argued that the CCTV footage from the pub showed he had not touched the alleged victim.

Gardaí sent a file to the DPP about the allegation, and a decision was made to charge Sil despite a lack of evidence corroborating the accusation.

The case against Sil, of Wellington Lawn, was brought to Dublin District Court in May 2020.

However, Judge Paula Murphy found Sil not guilty and referred to the inconsistencies between the complainant’s evidence and CCTV footage from the pub.

The experience has had a devastating impact on Sil’s life and lengthy comedy career, as his attempts to be granted anonymity leading up to and during the court process were not successful.

After he was named in newspapers of being accused of sexual assault, his upcoming comedy shows were cancelled and he lost work on RTÉ’s ‘Funny Friday’ segment on ‘Livelive’.

“I was devastated at the time [of the accusation],” Sil told The Echo on Monday evening.

“I couldn’t believe it, because I’d never done anything in my life.

“I was supposed to have put my hand down between her legs, but it went to court and the CCTV showed nothing happened – it was all lies.

“I was devastated. Everything stopped for me when my name went into the paper.

“We asked the judge for anonymity, and they said no, so my name ended up in the papers but hers didn’t.

“My gigs were cancelled because of the court case, I even lost my RTÉ programme ‘Funny Friday’.

“But everyone I spoke to, they all said, ‘We never believed that about you Sil’. “I’ve never done anything like that in my life, and I’d never been in court before in my life.

“I was devastated that these charges were put against me.”

Sil said that when he was found not guilty, he was “overjoyed, it was like a huge weight was lifted off me.”

On February 17, 2021, Sil instructed his solicitors to initiate proceedings against the DPP and others for their handling of the case, but no orders, court listings or judgements have been made in the case so far.

The Echo understands that the pleadings in the case will soon be closed, at which point the case will proceed into discovery and then setting down for trial.

Sil said he is hoping the law can be changed so both defendants and complainants in similar cases can maintain their anonymity unless they’re found guilty.

“They can print what they like in the papers about the court cases, but only name them if they’re found guilty,” said Sil, when explaining how he’d like the law to change.

“I’d like an apology from the DPP for what they’ve done to my life – they’ve ruined my life.”

When asked how he feels now that his name has been cleared, Sil said: “I feel great, but you still never get over a thing like this.

“You can’t just say, ‘Goodbye, it never happened’, there’s still the trauma of the court and of losing your work.” x

Prior to the accusation, Sil had worked steadily as a comedian for more than 50 years but he’s unsure if a return to the stage will be on the cards for him now.

“I haven’t been on stage in over a year now, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to it,” he said.

“Stranger things have happened, but I don’t know. I would like to get back on stage.”