Vanessa Scammell

Perfect.

front page and online in all its shocking glory, complete with images of Craig in various lascivious poses from the Rocky Horror Show, resplendent in underwear, fishnets and high heels, contrasting with his accuser's grim-faced, doer, dressed-down appearances.

War had been declared and the shock of seeing these women on the front page of the paper was seismic for Craig, for myself, for our families and for the Australian public.

But the women and the media who drew first blood had set their narrative in a most devastating way.

It is now time to present the other side of the so-called public interest story.

The side that hasn't been told, because as I have learned in the hardest way possible, exoneration is not nearly as newsworthy as accusations and allegations.

In Not Guilty, the Craig McLachlan case, I will be taking you through the criminal matter of which Craig was a part.

I will be examining the reporting of the lead up to the case, what occurred in the courtroom, the rulings that were delivered upon Craig McLachlan's Not Guilty verdict, and I will be analysing the most pressing question of all.

Should Craig McLachlan have been charged in the first place?

Should he have ever been charged at all?

My name is Vanessa Scammell and thanks for listening to me too.

Join me next time for episode two for a frank discussion on what the backstage culture of the Rocky Horror Show consisted of and the charges that were ultimately laid against Craig McLaughlin.

Hello, my name is Vanessa Scammell and I am here not as a conductor, which is my chosen profession, but as someone who has been a part of a story, a story that has yet to be told in its entirety.

My story centres around how reckless and unsubstantiated allegations can destroy people's lives and how such allegations effectively halted the career and life of one of Australia's most successful actors and personalities.

This is a podcast that examines, among other things, how difficult it is to change a narrative when page one guilt has been assumed and how the erosion of one of the most basic of human rights, the presumption of innocence, is ruining lives and establishing dangerous new social parameters.

This story contains nuance and detail that has otherwise been neglected in the black and white telling of this story.

A story that has so very many shades of grey.