Charlie Elphicke: Ex-MP 'besotted' with alleged assault victim

Charlie Elphicke is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman while his wife Natalie was away from home

A former Conservative MP has said he was "besotted" with a female parliamentary worker whom he is accused of sexually assaulting.

Charlie Elphicke told Southwark Crown Court he wanted to have an affair with the woman, but denied groping her.

The 49-year-old, who is married to Natalie Elphicke, his successor as Dover MP, said he wanted to have a "sexual relationship" with the woman.

He denies three counts of sexual assault.

Mr Elphicke said he invited the parliamentary worker for a drink in Westminster in April 2016.

'Two-way street'

"As the evening wore on, I said to her how much I liked her in many ways and how I had not, er, met someone like her for a very, very long time and how I was clearly liking her a lot," he said.

He thought the woman was "just amazing" and "hadn't felt like this in years", he told the court.

"I thought it was a two-way street and she felt the same about me as I did about her," he added.

He denied having tried to kiss the woman or deliberately touching her breast.

"I might have touched her shoulder, her upper arm, I might have touched her hand, but no unusual physical contact," he said.

'Naughty Tory'

Mr Elphicke admitted attempting to kiss a second woman at his London home in 2007, but denied sexually assaulting her.

The woman has accused Mr Elphicke of sexually assaulting her, grabbing her breast and chanting "I'm a naughty Tory" while chasing her around the house.

He said while drinking wine the pair had "what you might describe as a sexy conversation".

"I believe it was silly, flirtatious, I was joking, she was giggling," he said.

Mr Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault

The court heard Mr Elphicke's young children were asleep in the house at the time, while his wife was away for the evening.

It was the first night she had been away since the birth of their son, the jury was told.

The woman became "tactile" as the pair fed each other, Mr Elphicke told the jury.

"She was handsy and feeding me chocolate stars," he explained.

Mr Elphicke said he then tried to kiss the woman, believing she had initially "responded positively", before realising it was not what she wanted.

"I apologised for being under a misapprehension that we wanted to kiss," he added.

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The woman agreed not to tell his wife about the incident at the time, he told the court.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC asked Mr Elphicke, who was then a Conservative candidate in forthcoming elections, if he believed he had "a lot to lose at the time" had his wife discovered that "on the first night she had been away you had sexually assaulted a woman".

"I didn't sexually assault her," he replied.

'Almost identical allegations'

Ms Marshall said there were similarities between the women's accounts.

Mr Elphicke denied saying he was "naughty" after the alleged assaults in both 2007 and 2016.

It was an "incredible coincidence" that both women were "making up lies" about him and making "almost identical" allegations nearly a decade apart, Ms Marshall said.

"I cannot account for what they are saying," he said. "I can say I did not sexually assault either of these women."

On Monday, he told jurors he had an affair with another woman, from 2015, but had not told his wife.

The trial continues.