Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli to stand trial for rape and sex offences

Comedian and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli is to stand trial accused of repeatedly raping a woman as well as sex offences against four others.

Kohli - who appeared on celebrity versions of Big Brother and Masterchef - denied a total of 20 charges via his legal team during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow.

The accusations, spanning from January 2006 and June 2021, include five separate rape charges involving one of the women.

Kohli, 57, from Kelvinside in Glasgow, is a former reporter on BBC's The One Show and panellist on The Wright Stuff on Channel 5.

The first offence is alleged to have happened between 15 June and 31 July 2020 at a house near Glasgow.

Kohli is accused of raping the same woman on "various occasions" at the same property, as well as two others in the city's east end from the June date up until 1 February 2021.

He is said to have struck again twice within two days in December 2020.

The final rape is said to have happened at one of the east end addresses on 20 June 2021 when the woman was "intoxicated, drifting in and out of consciousness and incapable of consenting" at the time.

Kohli separately faces four sexual assault charges involving the same female.

These include a claim he got her to wear a blindfold during one incident and spat on her during another.

Kohli is further accused of engaging in a course of abusive behaviour with the woman over a two-year period.

This includes accusations he asked for intimate images of her, wanted to know about previous relationships, tracked her movements and hounded her with calls and texts.

It is also alleged he "coerced" the woman into giving him money.

The court papers further state that he locked her out of his house, turned up uninvited at her home and threw out food he made for her.

Kohli is also charged with communicating indecently with the woman and sending her photos of semi-naked females.

The initial charges on the indictment are that Kohli indecently assaulted another woman at the BBC Scotland studios in Glasgow as well as in the Radisson Hotel in the city's Argyle Street.

He is also alleged to have committed a sexually-related breach of the peace at an un-named restaurant.

These incidents are said to have happened between January 2006 and December 2008.

Kohli is further accused of indecently assaulting and carrying out a sex act in front of a third woman at the Cross Keys Hotel in Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway, on 22 June 2008.

And he is charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a fourth female at the University of Edinburgh in August 2011.

Kohli faces the same offence against the final woman on 20 December 2016.

The indictment includes claims that he grabbed the woman in the then city centre Yes Bar, put his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth.

He is also accused of being threatening and abusive towards her by repeatedly pursuing her in the pub and making sexual remarks.

Kohli was excused from attending the brief hearing. Defence advocate Sarah Livingstone pled not guilty on his behalf.

She lodged a special defence of consent for a number of the charges.

The trial is scheduled to start on 1 October 2027.