Al Porter ‘categorically denies’ allegations of groping in psychiatric hospital

Radio personality Colm Hayes also said he "never saw anything untoward happen" while in the company of Porter at the time.

Former Today FM DJ Al Porter “categorically denies” allegations by a patient in a Dublin psychiatric hospital that Porter kissed and groped him during a hospital visit in 2015. In a statement to the Sunday Mirror, Porter’s legal team said: “Al Porter is co-operating and will continue to do so fully with any inquiry by St Patrick’s as he categorically denies the allegation of criminal wrongdoing.” The allegation in question relates to a complaint made about Porter by a patient in St. Patrick’s Mental Health Hospital in Dublin while Porter visited the hospital as part of the Walk in My Shoes charity broadcast to promote Mental Health Awareness week in October 2015. After allegations were initially made against Porter in an article in the Sunday Times late last year, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services confirmed that they were investigating a complaint made about Porter and they would not be commenting on the matter until the investigation is complete. Further to Porter’s denials of wrongdoing, Colm Hayes, a former 2FM DJ now working with Radio Nova, told The Sunday Mirror that “he never saw anything untoward happen” while he was co-hosting a radio show with Porter in the hospital at the time.

“I was with Al for those days and I never saw anything untoward happen. I was with him quite a lot and we presented a two-hour show each day,” Hayes told The Sunday Mirror. “When he was in my presence, in the lobby and taking photos, I saw nothing happen at all. I am willing to sign an affidavit of my evidence, if asked.”

In November of last year, Al Porter resigned from his role as a presenter on Today FM and subsequently announced he would be standing aside from his role in the Christmas panto, Pantomime Polly and the Beanstalk at the Olympia Theatre. https://twitter.com/TheAlPorter/status/932293263658246144 You can read more on the story in The Sunday Mirror here.