Rolf Harris let out of jail to attend sex assault trial
ROLF HARRIS is to be released from prison today, a court has heard. The Australia-born former television star, 87, has been appearing by videolink at Southwark Crown Court in London, where he is standing trial accused of indecent assault.
Judge Deborah Taylor told the jury yesterday that the defendant would be released from Stafford Prison today and he would therefore appear in court in person on bail for the remainder of the trial.
Jurors had previously been told Harris had been convicted and sentenced for other offences in 2014.
The judge told jurors: “He [Harris] will no longer be appearing in the court via videolink and he will be attending what remains of his trial in person next week.”
The trial, which opened on May 15, will not sit today.
Former Animal Hospital host Harris, whose family hail from Merthyr Tydfil, is standing trial accused of indecently assaulting three teenage girls in the 1970s and 1980s.
He is also alleged to have touched a 13-year-old girl’s breast after filming a children’s TV programme and asked her: “Do you often get molested on a Saturday morning?”
He is separately accused of twice groping a third girl, aged 16, after being paid £100 to appear on ITV celebrity show Star Games in 1978, and telling her she was “a little bit irresistible”, the court heard.
He denies four charges of indecent assault against three women between 1971-83.
Giving evidence in court on the trial’s fourth day, one alleged victim denied she had “fabricated” evidence against Harris.
She told the court: “I absolutely have not [fabricated evidence]. One of the reasons perhaps it was easier for me to tell police is because I had told people over the years.” Asked by prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC if she was motivated by money to testify against Harris, the witness replied: “I’m not driven by money. I took a 75% pay cut [with my new job].
“I do feel strongly that men like Harris shouldn’t get away with it.”
Asked by Mr Rees if she was an “attention-seeker”, the witness replied: “I cannot imagine how anyone would conceive of doing this for any sort of kick.”
Another witness told the court she was “in shock” after Harris allegedly touched her right breast.
The alleged victim, a 13-year-old schoolgirl at the time, said she was in a “green room” with a group of other teenagers following the transmission of 1980s children’s show Saturday Superstore, on which Harris was appearing. She was at a table of refreshments to get a drink when Harris approached her and assaulted her, the court heard.
The witness, appearing via videolink, said the entertainer slid his right hand over her clothes and placed it on her right breast, asking her: “Do you often get molested on a Saturday morning?”
She told jurors: “I was in shock because I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. He left quite quickly and I just stood there for a while.
“I went [to tell someone] and I think I said, ‘something weird just happened’ or ‘you won’t believe what just happened’.
“I did tell her what happened... she looked shocked – not at what happened but rather, ‘that’s Rolf Harris, don’t be silly’.”
She said: “Every time he came on the TV, I told people ‘he’s a pervert’ or something along those lines.”
The victim later told police the incident left her “shocked and traumatised”, but that she did not confide in detectives until 2014 because she was worried she would not be believed, the court heard.
The case was adjourned until Monday. Harris denies all charges.