Top harpist faces child sex claims
AN internationally acclaimed harpist who has performed for the Queen has been accused of child sex abuse offences.
Danielle Perrett, 58, who has also played for four consecutive prime ministers, is charged with historic offences involving a teenage boy dating to the mid-1980s.
The criminal investigation has shocked the music world where she has developed a reputation as one of Britain’s finest musicians.
The virtuoso, who gained a diploma in harp playing only five years after taking up the instrument, has appeared at prestigious venues including Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Versailles. She entertained guests at Prince Philip’s 70th birthday party and has also played for Prince Charles, the late Princess Diana, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and the Duchess of York.
Perrett, who denies seven counts of indecently assaulting the teenager, would have been in her 20s at the time of the alleged offences.
Her former partner Richard Barton-Wood, 68, is accused of five charges of indecent assault against the same boy, one attempted assault and two charges of an attempted serious sexual assault. The warden and publicity officer at 12th century Wymondham Abbey in Norfolk, a short distance from his home, has denied all the charges.
Perrett refused to comment yesterday at her home in a converted mill near Sudbury, Suffolk.
Her husband, composer David Gough, 57, said: ‘We have been advised not to say anything.’
The defendants initially appeared before Ipswich magistrates on May 23 before a hearing at the town’s Crown Court on Wednesday.
Judge John Devaux told the defendants: ‘Your trial is fixed for January 2 next year. In the meantime you will have bail on the same basis as you have now.’ Perrett’s solicitor, Jenny Wiltshire, said: ‘She pleaded not guilty to all charges at the first appearance in the magistrates court.
‘She vigorously denies the allegations made against her.’
Award-winning Perrett made her debut recital at the Purcell Room in London’s Southbank Centre in 1983 and has since made regular appearances as a soloist and in chamber music at major concert venues around the world.
In addition to teaching, including a period as head of the harp department at the London College of Music, she has appeared on national TV and in the BBC film of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.