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| Rolf Harris trial: Entertainer 'disguised dark side of character' | Rolf Harris trial: Entertainer 'disguised dark side of character' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Rolf Harris has admitted he is good at disguising a "dark side" of his character as he gave evidence for a second day at his sex abuse trial. | Rolf Harris has admitted he is good at disguising a "dark side" of his character as he gave evidence for a second day at his sex abuse trial. |
| The 84-year-old TV entertainer said his wife and daughter had not known of his relationship with an alleged victim. | The 84-year-old TV entertainer said his wife and daughter had not known of his relationship with an alleged victim. |
| Prosecuting lawyer Sasha Wass QC said the court would need to fathom "how dark that dark side actually is". | Prosecuting lawyer Sasha Wass QC said the court would need to fathom "how dark that dark side actually is". |
| Mr Harris, of Bray, in Berkshire, denies 12 indecent assaults between 1968 and 1986. | Mr Harris, of Bray, in Berkshire, denies 12 indecent assaults between 1968 and 1986. |
| He told Southwark Crown Court he had had a consensual relationship with the woman when she was an adult, but that nothing had happened while she was a child. | He told Southwark Crown Court he had had a consensual relationship with the woman when she was an adult, but that nothing had happened while she was a child. |
| 'Above suspicion' | 'Above suspicion' |
| When he said friends and family had not known about the relationship, Ms Wass asked: "You are pretty good at disguising that dark side of your character aren't you?" | When he said friends and family had not known about the relationship, Ms Wass asked: "You are pretty good at disguising that dark side of your character aren't you?" |
| "Yes," Mr Harris replied. | |
| Asked about his relationship with the alleged victim, Mr Harris said it had been based on a "mutual feeling of warmth and affection" and had not been an "affair". | Asked about his relationship with the alleged victim, Mr Harris said it had been based on a "mutual feeling of warmth and affection" and had not been an "affair". |
| He was again shown the letter he wrote to his alleged victim's father in which he confessed to a sexual relationship when she was over 18, and said it had been "extraordinarily difficult to write". | |
| Mr Harris accepted that when he told the woman - then aged 13 - that she had "looked lovely in her bikini", he had made a "sexual remark". | |
| Ms Wass asked: "What you were saying to [the alleged victim] is 'you have got a great body'." | |
| Mr Harris replied: "I suppose so." | |
| When Ms Wass said: "By saying that to a 13-year-old, that's a sexual remark isn't it?" | |
| "In hindsight I suppose it is", he replied. | "In hindsight I suppose it is", he replied. |
| Mr Harris denied assaulting the alleged victim during a holiday, she she was a child, telling the court: "It never happened." | |
| Referring to his behaviour on the trip, when it has been alleged that he indecently assaulted her several times, Ms Wass suggested Mr Harris "played with her like she was a toy". | |
| He said: "I would never do that." | |
| And he disputed an account from the mother of the alleged victim that he had visited her family home without his daughter, Bindi, being there. | |
| "Didn't happen", he said. | "Didn't happen", he said. |
| Ms Wass said Mr Harris had been "above suspicion", and had taken advantage of being "a well-loved children's entertainer". | Ms Wass said Mr Harris had been "above suspicion", and had taken advantage of being "a well-loved children's entertainer". |
| He said that had not happened. | He said that had not happened. |
| Asked about more allegations that he had abused the girl, Mr Harris told the court: "She's said all sorts of things that if it wasn't so serious would have been laughable." | |
| Ms Wass said the abuse had been "part of the thrill" for Mr Harris, and listed the names of each alleged victims. | |
| After each one, he said: "Nothing happened". |