Bill Roache's children became familiar faces in Preston crown court during his three-and-a-half week trial.
Each day the Coronation Street star arrived flanked by his eldest son, Linus, who turned 50 over the weekend, and Linus's two half siblings, James, 28, and Verity, 32.
Immaculately turned out, the children bore unmistakeable resemblance to their 81-year-old father, right down to the swept-back hairstyles that seem to run in the family.
Linus and James are actors who have both appeared in Coronation Street as offspring of Ken Barlow, their father's character, though Linus's big role came in the 2005 Hollywood film Batman Begins. Verity is an interior designer.
Their sister, 46-year-old Vanya, stayed at home. Prior to his arrest last year, Roache had spoken of his regret at his estrangement from her, his eldest daughter. Vanya's absence in Preston fuelled rumours that she had still not forgiven him for cheating on her and Linus's mother, Anna Cropper, when they were little – a suggestion dismissed by Roache's aides, who say she is supportive but did not want to be in the media spotlight.
Vanya was spared Linus's ordeal of hearing their father admit under oath that he had repeatedly cheated on their mother, sometimes in the marital home, while insisting his lovers were always "mature and willing".
James and Verity heard Roache swear to have remained faithful to their mother, Sara Mottram, who died in 2009. Their other sister, Edwina, born to Mottram and Roache in 1982, died as an infant – a bereavement Roache discussed in the witness box.
During the breaks James or Linus would go the canteen, while Verity stayed in a windowless consultation room by court one, keeping her father company.
When the foreman of the jury read out unanimous not-guilty verdicts on Thursday, Roache stood impassive, his face impossible to read. The tears came from his children.
