Ashley Blake reveals he is terrified of going to jail
Aug 5 2009 By Christina Savvas
DISGRACED TV presenter Ashley Blake has revealed he is now terrified of going to jail.
The 40-year old BBC Midlands Today newsreader confessed he broke down in tears after a judge told him it was the ‘most likely’ outcome after he was found guilty of battering a teenager with a wooden pole.
“I can’t imagine myself in jail. I am terrified. I don’t know how I will cope with prison life and all because I tried to defend myself,” he told the Birmingham Mail in his first interview since the conviction.
“I have been going over and over it in my mind for the last six months. I have thought of nothing else.”
A jury found Blake guilty of unlawfully wounding 17-year-old Greg Jones by hitting him in the face with a 3ft patio umbrella pole, leaving him scarred for life. He was also found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice by throwing the pole away.
He was acquitted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The former Watchdog presenter, who had a string of previous convictions, said he was still in a ‘state of shock’ after he was found guilty of the attack which happened after violence broke out at the end of an 18th birthday bash at his former bar and restaurant The Place 2B in Chester Road, Sutton Coldfield.
Speaking about his conviction he said: “I am absolutely flabbergasted.”
“It is unbelievable, the whole situation. I have rewound on double speed right back to the night itself and thought how did such a wonderful occasion of the birthday party of one of my popular employees turn so nasty.
“I showed the court some of the implements thrown at me and my staff as missiles. If they had hit me or my staff they could have killed someone. It was a life threatening situation but I think the jury lost all trust in me.”
Blake is due to face an internal disciplinary hearing at the BBC next week.
“It’s properly beginning to sink in and it’s inevitable that I will lose my job, everything I have worked so hard for.”
