Kevin Spacey's London criminal trial featured tears, graphic allegations of sexual misconduct and surprise celebrity witnesses

A Machiavellian US congressman who kills his way into the Oval Office. A terrifying serial killer who taunts Brad Pitt and murders Gwyneth Paltrow. A middle-aged suburban dad who lusts after his teenage daughter's friend.

From Frank Underwood to Lester Burnham, Kevin Spacey built a glittering career out of playing Hollywood's creepiest characters. 

He was celebrated for his ability to find the charisma and humanity in characters who operated in the shadows of society. 

WARNING: Some readers may find details in this story distressing. 

But in 2017, as the #MeToo movement unleashed a reckoning in Hollywood, a dozen men came forward to say the line between Spacey and his on-screen persona was far too blurry. 

Accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, the fallout for Spacey was swift and brutal. 

His character was killed off the hit Netflix show House of Cards and his scenes from the unreleased film All The Money In The World were cut and reshot with actor Christopher Plumber. 

Last October, one of his accusers took Spacey to a US court in a civil suit, claiming the actor climbed on top of him and made sexual advances when he was only 14. 

The New York jury sided with Spacey and the case was thrown out, but the 64-year-old's legal woes weren't over. 

A fresh crop of allegations of sexual misconduct soon emerged in London. 

Spacey faced nine criminal charges, including seven sexual-assault counts and two of indecent assault, against four men. 

But after deliberating for 12 hours, the jury found Spacey not guilty on all charges.

As the verdict was read, the actor wept, mouthed "thank you, thank you" to the jurors, and wiped away tears with a tissue.

This is how the trial unfolded. 

The theatre gig, the driver and Elton John on the stand 

At the peak of his power, Spacey was a two-time Oscar winner and the jewel in Netflix's crown as the streaming giant invested billions in producing original content. 

He also served as the artistic director for the Old Vic, one of London's oldest and most venerated theatres. 

But during this period, prosecutors alleged that Spacey was "an extremely famous actor who ... sexually assaults other men". 

"A man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable, a sexual bully," prosecutor Christine Agnew told the Southwark Crown Court. 

The four-week long trial against Spacey was a strange mix of celebrity witnesses, tears and graphic allegations of sexual violence. 

All four of the men who made complaints against Spacey were aged in their 20s and 30s when they said the assaults occurred. 

One accuser, who was Spacey's driver, said he found the actor to be a "very slippery, snaky, difficult person" who slowly eroded his boundaries before assaulting him a dozen times. 

In a police interview shown to the jurors, the man said he was driving Spacey to a party hosted by Elton John when the actor grabbed his penis with such force that he almost crashed.

"He grabbed me really hard and it really hurt. I pushed him against the door and said: 'Don't do that again or I will knock you out'."

He alleged that in response, Spacey giggled and said: "That's such a turn-on to me."

While Spacey admits to having "a kind of naughty relationship" with his driver, he insisted their dynamic was consensual and denies attacking him on the drive to Sir Elton's house. 

The jury gasped when Sir Elton was called as a witness in the case, dialling in remotely from his Monaco mansion. 

Dressed in a white shirt and orange-tinted sunglasses, the superstar sighed loudly and complained that he couldn't hear the courtroom due to a shoddy Zoom connection. 

However, he told the jury that he could only recall Spacey attending one of his White Tie and Tiara Balls in 2001, and he arrived by private jet. 

The date of the alleged incident in the car was disputed by both parties. 

Spacey's defence lawyer alleged that the driver was "excited" by the actor, but "saw a bandwagon coming along" last year and decided to "hop on" by recasting their encounters as assault. 

Prosecutor alleged a pattern of 'aggressive' assaults

Two other men claim they were assaulted by Spacey during chance encounters with the actor.

One complainant said he met Spacey at a rehearsal for a charity event at a London theatre, and the actor arrived looking "dishevelled" and smelling of "booze". 

Describing the alleged assault to police, the man said Spacey "was like a cobra and grabbed with such force it was really painful". 

The man said he initially stayed silent because the Hollywood star was seen as a "golden boy", but Spacey denied ever meeting the complainant. 

Asked why he would invent such a claim, Spacey responded: "Money, money, and then money."

Another man said he met Spacey at a countryside pub in the early 2000s and was later invited back to a property where the actor was staying with friends. 

When he accidentally let Spacey's dog out of the room, he alleged that the star pulled him into a hug. 

"We did an awkward man hug as I call it ... at that point he kissed my neck twice and grabbed my crotch. He said the words, 'be cool, be cool', twice," the man told the court. 

While Spacey accepted he met the man, and perhaps made a clumsy pass at him, he denied behaving in a criminal or aggressive manner. 

"We all had a lot of drinks," he said. 

"This has happened to millions of people who make a pass at someone, got the wrong signals, are embarrassed and try to move on."

'It's the short-skirt argument'

The most serious allegation against Spacey was made by a man who claimed he was lured back to the actor's London apartment. 

The aspiring actor alleged he was being "circled by a shark" during the alleged assault, which he said was "completely traumatic and life-ruining".

"I was taken advantage of, and I believe drugged, [and] sexually assaulted," he told the court. 

After drinking beers and smoking cannabis at Spacey's apartment, the man said he woke up to find the star performing a sex act on him without his consent. 

During a fiery cross-examination, the man rejected accusations from Spacey's defence lawyer that he had conjured up the assault in pursuit of money. 

"I'm not doing this for the money but I do believe I am owed and I deserve to be remunerated due to the atrocious, despicable, disgusting nature of your client," he said.

He also angrily denied submitting to an encounter in the hope that Spacey would help his acting career. 

"It's the short-skirt argument; just because I'm meeting someone for a drink and they're gay I deserve that. This line of questioning is offensive," he said.

Spacey initially denied ever meeting the man, but later said he had a "vague" recollection of their encounter. 

"We had a consensual and, I believe, a very nice and lovely evening. If he regretted it immediately I don't know, I can't speak for him, but something was weird —  it was strange," Spacey said. 

'My world exploded' 

Throughout the trial, Spacey's legal team cast him as the victim — a supremely talented and famous actor, whose star power left him lonely and mistrustful of others. 

When asked by the prosecutor if he had "reached out to people sexually to ease that burden of loneliness", Spacey laughed. 

"Welcome to life," he said, before adding: "Yes I do."

The actor wept as he recounted how the allegations of sexual misconduct, which first came to light in 2017, changed his life. 

"My world exploded," he said, dabbing his face with a tissue. 

The star was repeatedly scolded by the judge and the prosecutor for avoiding questions and dropping the names of celebrities into his answers. 

At one point, he told the jury he was having dinner with a famous friend on the night of one of the alleged assaults.

He turned to the jurors and said: "Tim Piggott Smith, if you don't know who he is, he was a wonderful actor."

"Mr Spacey ... please, we don't need to know who Tim Piggott Smith is," the prosecutor said. 

Like many historic sexual assault allegations, this trial came down to a case of he said, he said. 

Without physical evidence, eyewitnesses, and some recollections about exact dates and locations lost over time, the jury did not find Spacey guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now cleared in both the New York civil case and the London criminal trial, Spacey has indicated he will attempt to mount a comeback in Hollywood. 

"I know that there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London," he told a German newspaper last month.

"The second that happens, they're ready to move forward."