MP Elphicke ‘lectured victim not to blab’ after sex assault, jury told

FORMER Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke sexually assaulted a young parliamentary worker and then “lectured her not to blab”, a court heard.

The 49-year-old father-of-two is said to have told the woman he “had not been happy for years” in his marriage to Natalie Elphicke moments after groping the woman in Westminster after inviting her to share some champagne with him in the spring of 2016.

The alleged victim, who was in her early 20s and cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she found Elphicke “physically repulsive” and kept telling him she was not interested in a sexual relationship with him, despite his protestations that she did.

Asked by prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC at Southwark Crown Court if she thought Elphicke believed she was, in fact, “up for it”, the woman, who wept while giving evidence, replied: “I think he thought that if he kept going that I would one day cave. But I wouldn’t.”

Elphicke denies three counts of sex assault, two involving the parliamentary worker and one involving another woman in 2007 at his home in central London.

The parliamentary worker said she and Elphicke were chatting over a drink in Westminster, talking about how they both liked musicals and Abba before he allegedly put his arm around her and told her he liked her.

The jury heard excerpts from notes the woman made after the alleged incident in which she told him she was not interested. The court heard Elphicke contacted the woman afterwards and warned her about talking to others.

Elphicke was Dover MP from 2010 until 2019, when he stood down and was succeeded by his wife. The trial continues.