‘Elphicke said after sex assault: We’re all at it’

CHARLIE ELPHICKE, the former Conservative MP, called himself a “naughty Tory” and told a woman he had sexually assaulted “we’re all at it”, a court has heard.

Mr Elphicke, who represented Dover in Parliament for nearly a decade, tried to kiss the woman, then groped her breast and chased her around his home while trying to grab her bottom, Southwark Crown Court was told.

The incident happened in 2007, three years before he was elected to Parliament, and allegedly took place at his family home in London while his two young children were asleep and his wife, Natalie, was away.

Yesterday, the brother of the alleged victim said that his sister was “hysterical” and “could hardly get her words out” when she phoned him. He swiftly drove over to pick her up.

Under cross-examination, the brother said: “In the van she told me he tried to grope and kiss her.

“She told me she pushed him away and ran to the room and locked the door. She said he was saying, ‘I’m a naughty Tory, we’re all at it’.”

Eloise Marshall, prosecuting, repeated: ‘I’m a naughty Tory, we are all at it?’ He replied: “Yes.”

Ian Winter QC, defending, said the brother’s police statement, taken a decade after the event, made no mention of “we’re all at it”, and suggested it was a detail added to his account. Mr Winter said: “You have talked about this with your sister and that’s why you’ve got more details and information for us.”

The witness replied: “No, that’s not the case at all.”

Mr Elphicke, who was an MP from 2010 until 2019 when he stood down, denies three counts of sexual assault. The trial continues.