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Rolf Harris trial witness: 'The way he tickled you was cringey … creepy' Rolf Harris trial: 'The way he tickled you was cringey … creepy'
(about 1 hour later)
A woman has told a court that Rolf Harris indecently assaulted her without warning when she emerged from a shower in a hotel room wearing just a towel at the age of 13. Rolf Harris repeatedly carried out sexual assaults on the young daughter of family friends, acting without warning and then pretending nothing had happened, the alleged victim has told a court.
The witness, whose family were friends with Harris, told Southwark crown court that at the time she already found Harris "creepy" and "cringey" for his habit of giving her hugs and tickles, but was nonetheless deeply shocked by the alleged attack. The woman said that even before the first alleged assault, when she was 13, she already found Harris "creepy" and "cringey" for his habit of giving her bear hugs and tickling her body. On one occasion, she said, Harris assaulted her while a family member was oblivious in the same room, saying: "I think he got a thrill out of it."
Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman, now in her late 40s, said she had been on holiday at the hotel when the alleged assault took place in the late 1970s. Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman, now in her late 40s, said the alleged attacks had had a significant effect on her life, prompting her to start drinking to cope with the anxiety. As a teenager she felt the assaults were "all my fault", she told Southwark crown court.
She believed she was alone in the hotel room but came out from the shower to find the Australian-born entertainer and artist standing there, the woman said. Asked by Sasha Wass QC, prosecuting, why this was the case, the woman replied: "Because I didn't stop him. I should have shouted and screamed."
"He just came up to me and gave me one of his big hugs and tickles," she said, answering questions from Sasha Wass QC, prosecuting. Harris then immediately reached under the towel and sexually assaulted her, she said, muttering something like: "You're lovely." The woman said she felt panicked. "I just thought, Oh my God, what's happening," she said. "He pretended nothing had happened, and said: 'I'll see you downstairs.'" The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the first alleged attack took place when she was 13 and on holiday. She had taken a shower in her hotel room and emerged with just a towel around her, assuming the room was empty. However, she saw the Australian-born entertainer and artist standing there.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Harris would regularly hug and tickle her, and she did not like it, calling it "pretty creepy". "He just came up to me and gave me one of his big hugs and tickles," she said. Harris then immediately reached under the towel and sexually assaulted her, she said, while muttering something like, "You're lovely." The woman said she felt panicked. "I just thought, 'Oh my God, what's happening,'" she said. "He pretended nothing had happened, and said, 'I'll see you downstairs.'"
The woman said Harris would regularly hug and tickle her, and she did not enjoy it, calling it "pretty creepy".
"The way he hugged you and tickled you all over was cringey. I never liked it. Rolf would fold himself around you. He was a big man. He would fold you in his arms and tickle you up and down your body.""The way he hugged you and tickled you all over was cringey. I never liked it. Rolf would fold himself around you. He was a big man. He would fold you in his arms and tickle you up and down your body."
The woman said Harris assaulted her in a similar way two days later when he wrapped a towel round her as she emerged from the sea, with family members close by.The woman said Harris assaulted her in a similar way two days later when he wrapped a towel round her as she emerged from the sea, with family members close by.
Asked by Wass why she did not shout out, the woman replied: "I was a very shy child, excruciatingly shy really, and I didn't have the guts to shout out. I thought that if I shouted out it will cause mayhem."Asked by Wass why she did not shout out, the woman replied: "I was a very shy child, excruciatingly shy really, and I didn't have the guts to shout out. I thought that if I shouted out it will cause mayhem."
Harris assaulted her other times on the holiday, the woman said. Asked by Wass if she resisted the alleged assaults, she replied: "No I didn't. I wish I did but I didn't." She said she felt ashamed for doing nothing. On another occasion, she said, Harris took a photograph of her in bed. She said: "I was asleep in bed. I awoke to a click of a camera."
The woman said the assaults continued on the holiday and then back in the UK when Harris visited her family home. To cope with the anxiety these visits would cause, she said, she used pocket money to buy small bottles of gin, which she would drink in her bedroom, brushing her teeth to mask the smell from her parents.
She described an occasion when she was 15 when Harris allegedly put his hand into her jeans after coming to her bedroom, and on another occasion "cornering" her in a TV room and assaulting her in a similar way. On each occasion, she said, Harris said nothing except sometimes murmuring her name, and would immediately afterwards go downstairs and start laughing and joking with the teenager's family as if nothing had happened.
Was there ever any question of the alleged victim enjoying the experiences, Wass asked? She replied: "No, not in the slightest."
The woman also described an alleged assault when she was staying at Harris's family home in Bray, Berkshire, including one when he brought her a cup of tea in the morning, and another which took place when a family member was in the same room. On another occasion, she said, he began to fondle his penis in front of her, which she described as "small, very, very small".
Harris, 84, wearing a dark grey suit, pink shirt and multicoloured tie, sat in the glassed-in dock listening impassively to proceedings with a hearing loop headset. He denies 12 counts of indecent assault covering 25 years from the late 1960s. His wife, Alwen, sat in the public seats among other relatives and supporters.Harris, 84, wearing a dark grey suit, pink shirt and multicoloured tie, sat in the glassed-in dock listening impassively to proceedings with a hearing loop headset. He denies 12 counts of indecent assault covering 25 years from the late 1960s. His wife, Alwen, sat in the public seats among other relatives and supporters.
On Friday, opening the prosecution case, Wass told the jury that the woman was sexually assaulted by Harris over a number of years from the age of 13. On Friday, opening the prosecution case, Wass told the jury that Harris groomed the alleged victim, whose claims cover seven of the 12 counts, "like a pet".
Harris groomed the girl "like a pet", beginning on the holiday and continuing to do so when he visited her family in England, Wass said.
The alleged victim was left anxious and panicky, and at the age of 14 she began to drink gin when she knew Harris was due to visit, the court heard.
She presumed no one would believe allegations against a celebrity.
Wass said of Harris: "He never treated her as an equal or a human being. He never had a meaningful conversation with her. She felt she was just his little toy."Wass said of Harris: "He never treated her as an equal or a human being. He never had a meaningful conversation with her. She felt she was just his little toy."
When the alleged victim finally told her family in the 1990s, her father wrote to Harris, and he replied saying he was in "a state of abject self-loathing". When the alleged victim finally told her family in the 1990s, her father wrote to Harris, and the entertainer replied saying he was in "a state of abject self-loathing".
The jury was on Friday read Harris's letter to the girl's father in which he admitted a sexual relationship – while insisting it began when the girl was of legal age – and begged for forgiveness. The jury on Friday read Harris's letter to the girl's father in which he admitted a sexual relationship – while insisting it began when the girl was of legal age – and begged for forgiveness.
"When I see the misery I have caused [the alleged victim] I am sickened by myself. You can't go back and change things that you have done in this life – I wish to God I could," Harris wrote."When I see the misery I have caused [the alleged victim] I am sickened by myself. You can't go back and change things that you have done in this life – I wish to God I could," Harris wrote.
Wass told the jury that the respected artist was talented and could be kind, "but, concealed behind this charming and amicable children's entertainer, lay a man who exploited the very children who were drawn to him".
"There is a Jekyll and Hyde nature to Rolf Harris and this dark side of Rolf Harris was obviously not apparent to all of the other people he met during the course of his work, and it was not apparent to those who may want to testify to his good character."
The prosecution case covers 10 complainants. Harris faces charges in connection with only four of these as the remainder of the alleged offences took place outside the UK before 1997, the cut-off date for prosecution in a British court.