Former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke ‘paid £5k to women he groped to prevent wife from finding out’, court hears
A FORMER Tory MP paid £5,000 to a woman he groped to prevent his wife from finding out, a court heard.
Charlie Elphicke, 49, said he thought she wanted to "take matters further" after sharing a bottle of wine at his London pad in 2007 but demanded to be paid "compensation" after his advances.
He is is alleged to have kissed the woman, groped her breast and smacked her bottom while singing “I’m a naughty Tory."
The former Dover MP of nine years denied three counts of sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court.
In Mr Elphicke's March 2018 police interview, played to the jury, he said he paid £5,000 to the woman, who cannot be named, to not tell his wife.
“I said we should tell Natalie,” the dad of two told police. “She said she didn’t want Natalie to know. I got [£5,000] in smaller amounts . . . because she was insistent Natalie shouldn’t know.”
He added he never told his wife about the payments, reported.
He also insisted he stopped immediately when the woman told him to when describing the first alleged incident.
He said: "The atmosphere was very warm and convivial and I believed she wanted to take matters further. I leaned over and kissed her.
"At first she responded positively, then it became clear it was not what she wanted."
He added: "I was incredibly apologetic. I believed this was what she wanted.
"She said she accepted my explanation, my apology, and that I had been under a misapprehension."
Mr Elphicke and the woman drank together while Mrs Elphicke was away on business and he said he had been "under a misapprehension" in making advances towards her.
It comes after the court heard he told her "not to blab."
He told her he had “not been happy for years” in his marriage moments after groping her in Westminster, it is claimed.
The alleged victim, in her early 20s, said she found Elphicke “physically repulsive”.
When asked by prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC if she thought Elphicke believed she was, in fact, "up for it", the woman, 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 sexual assault, two involving the parliamentary worker, and one involving another woman in 2007 at his home in central London.
The parliamentary worker described how she and Elphicke were chatting over a drink in Westminster, before he allegedly put his arm around her and told her he liked her.
The jury also heard excerpts from notes the woman made after the incident in which she told him she was not interested.
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The court heard how Elphicke contacted the woman after the incident and warned her about talking to others.
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Elphicke served from 2010 to 2019 and was succeeded by his wife Natalie when he stood down.
The trial continues.
