Lewis Smales (stage name Linford; born 1987) is a British actor. A native of

Swanland Swanland is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. The village is about to the west of Kingston upon Hull city centre and north of the Humber Estuary in the foothills of the Yorkshir ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Smales is probably best known for playing the character of gamekeeper Lee Naylor in the British television soap ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. In 2010 Smales appeared in the 3rd Series of "The Inbetweeners". He began his career playing the part of Wayne Broody in John Godber's BAFTA award-winning BBC drama "Oddsquad". Smales has appeared on stage at the Hull Truck Theatre in

John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is an English playwright, known mainly for observational comedy, observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shak ...

's play ''

Up 'n' Under ''Up 'n' Under'' is a comedy by English playwright John Godber, first staged at the Hull Truck Theatre in 1984. It won The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy that same year. The sequel, ''Up 'n' Under II'', followed in 1985. Plot It fo ...

''.

Sexual assault trial and acquittal

In August 2009, Smales was tried at

Kingston upon Hull Crown Court The Kingston upon Hull Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court, which deals with civil cases, in Lowgate, Kingston upon Hull, England. History Until the early 1990s, all criminal ...

for the alleged sexual assault of a 20-year-old female boxer in a nightclub in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

. The incident was alleged to have occurred in Hull's Pozition night club in 2007, two years before Smales appeared on ''Emmerdale''. Smales was acquitted of the charge and later appeared in the media arguing for the anonymity of accused males in rape trials.Emmerdale 'sex assault' star Lewis Linford says he's the real victim
Daily Mirror 22 August 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linford, Lewis English male soap opera actors 1987 births Male actors from Kingston upon Hull Living people