Jury retires in Rolf Harris sexual assault case

The Australian denies six counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault, allegedly spanning four decades.

The prosecution has argued it was in Harris’s nature to grope women, including young girls, in public places, saying he had been good at getting away with it for years.

Harris’s defence claimed he was innocent of not only these latest charges but also the 12 counts of indecent assault he was convicted of in 2014.

The jury in the first trial ‘got it wrong’, his lawyer Stephen Vullo QC told Southwark Crown Court.

One charge relates to an incident in the latter part of the 1970s, when he is alleged to have put his hand up the skirt of a young girl as she approached him for an autograph outside a local radio station in Portsmouth.

Harris did not give evidence during the three-week trial, with his defence team claiming he would not have had much to say other than that he could not remember any of the incidents taking place, and reiterating his denial.

The 86-year-old followed the first part of the trial via video-link from Stafford Prison, where he is serving a sentence for offences against four female victims.

He was brought to court as the defence case neared its end, on the orders of Judge Alistair McCreath, who said it was important he attended for the close of the trial.