Elphicke ‘may be a bad husband but that doesn’t make him a criminal’

FORMER CONSERVATIVE MP Charlie Elphicke might be guilty of being a bad husband and for being “foolish”, but it does not mean he sexually assaulted two women, a court heard.

The 49-year-old father-of-two denies three counts of sexual assault, on women in their early 30s and early 20s, almost a decade apart.

But he acknowledged he had cheated on his wife with another woman, and said he propositioned one of the complainants in this case, both during his marriage to Natalie Elphicke, his successor as Dover MP since 2019.

His defence counsel, Ian Winter QC, told jurors at Southwark Crown Court that they may decide his client had behaved “foolishly”.

But he said that did not make him a criminal.

Mr Winter, in his closing speech yesterday, said: “You might think at the heart of this case lies a pretty ancient foolishness of husbands.

“If Mr Elphicke was on trial here for behaving foolishly you might find it easy to convict.

“If Mr Elphicke was on trial for cheating on his wife, treating her badly, you might find it easy to convict.”

He added: “You may despise that level of low morality – but you put that to one side.

“He is on trial for sexually assaulting two women, that is the allegation.”

The complainant described Elphicke kissing her, grabbing her breast, and then chasing her around the house chanting, “I’m a naughty Tory”.

In her closing speech on Thursday, prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said: “Charlie Elphicke is an accomplished liar, and he assaulted these women in exactly the way they described.

“He is guilty of all three counts on this indictment, and you can be sure of that.”

The hearing continues.