Charlie Elphicke: Ex-MP 'quizzed woman about bondage before grope'

Charlie Elphicke is charged with three counts of sexual assault

A woman broke down in court as she described being chased around the home of a former Tory MP after he groped her.

She said she had rejected ex-Dover MP Charlie Elphicke's advances moments before he tried to grab her bottom.

The incident is alleged to have happened in 2007 at Mr Elphicke's London home while his wife Natalie was away on business, Southwark Crown Court heard.

The 49-year-old denies sexual assault.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said they shared a £40 bottle of wine while Mr Elphicke's two children slept upstairs.

Giving evidence via video-link, the woman said she thought of Mr Elphicke - who did not become an MP until three years later - as "asexual", so found it "odd" when he began asking her about her sexual preferences.

'Silk and leather'

She said: "He started talking about what we [the alleged victim and her boyfriend] liked in a sexual way.

"He started saying 'do you like silk and leather?' and bondage."

She said the conversation continued for "a couple of sentences" before he "basically jumped" on her, the court heard.

She said: "He tried to kiss me and I moved my head, he pushed me down by my shoulders, he had his knee between my legs and he was groping my breast."

The witness said she told Mr Elphicke to "get off" before running away.

She said Mr Elphicke then "pursued" her around his home.

"He was saying really bizarre things that are embarrassing like 'I'm a naughty Tory'," she said.

"He was trying to grope me and trying to grab my bum."

The witness told jurors she managed to get away from Elphicke and got into a taxi.

She said: "I was feeling really shocked and scared. The whole thing was really embarrassing and odd and scary."

Mr Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault against two women, between 2007 and 2016.

The trial continues.