Charlie Elphicke groped woman and chased after her, court told

A former Conservative MP on trial for allegedly assaulting two women chased one of them around his home chanting: “I’m a naughty Tory” after groping her, a court has been told.

The woman feared for her safety and locked herself in a room when Charlie Elphicke ran after her and tried to smack her bottom following the alleged assault in 2007, jurors heard on the first day of his trial.

Elphicke, who represented the Kent constituency of Dover and Deal from 2010 until last year and served as a government whip, denies three counts of sexual assault.

He lost the Tory whip in 2017 when the allegations were referred to the police but was reinstated in December 2018 before a vote of confidence in the then prime minister, Theresa May.

Elphicke sat at the back of Southwark crown court on Monday as the prosecution began to lay out details of the alleged sexual assault against a woman in 2007 and two alleged assaults against another woman, who worked in parliament. His wife, Natalie Elphicke, who is the current MP for Dover, was also present in court.

The first woman, who was in her 20s at the time, was prompted to come forward after reports about the publication of a list of names of government ministers and MPs from different parties who were alleged to have acted inappropriately on the parliamentary estate, the court heard.

The other accuser, who was working at Westminster, was said to have been in her “dream job” when she found herself in Elphicke’s company sharing a bottle of champagne in April 2016, the court was told.

Eloise Marshall, prosecuting, recounted the first woman’s description of how Elphicke allegedly assaulted her. “He fully came at me, pulled his body towards me,” she said. “He had his mouth open, continually trying to kiss me. It was like a disgusting, slobbery mess.”

The prosecutor said the woman had “clearly rejected” Elphicke, reminded him he was married, and pointed out that there was a large age gap.

The woman was said to have initially raised the matter in 2016 with Anne Milton, a Conservative MP and deputy chief whip at the time, who called Elphicke in to speak to him about the allegation. He denied it, the court heard. He was asked if there had been any behaviour that could have been misconstrued or misunderstood and he said there had not.

The woman was also said to have confided in Margot James, who was a Conservative MP between 2010 and 2019.

The alleged 2007 assault is said to have occurred at Elphicke’s home when he and the woman were having a drink together while his children slept upstairs. Marshall told the jury that a conversation that the woman said she had initially been enjoying veered into territory that she felt uncomfortable with.

At some point in the evening the woman sat beside Elphicke on a sofa after coming across from a chair to top up her glass of wine at his invitation, and he sexually assaulted her, Marshall said.

“She cannot remember what happened but she does recall that she was lying on her back on the sofa,” said Marshall. “What happened next was very quick: Charles Elphicke pushed her back very quickly, placed his knee between her legs, was directly above her and came down to give her a kiss with an open mouth.”

The woman moved her head to one side and it resulted in him coming into contact with her cheek, the court was told. At the same time he allegedly put his hand into her V-neck dress and grabbed her right breast and squeezed it. “She immediately shouted ‘no’ and pushed him off. She was shocked as the incident had been completely unexpected. She got to her feet and ran off,” Marshall said.

Elphicke is alleged to have chased the woman down the stairs chanting: “I’m a naughty Tory” while trying to slap her bottom, before the woman locked herself in a room and later left the property.

The court was told that when police questioned Elphicke in 2018, he said of the 2007 incident that the woman had been feeding chocolate stars into his mouth and had been “tactile”. He claimed he kissed her on the lips and she “responded positively”, but she then said it was not what she wanted and he “immediately” stopped.

He also “completely denied” having described himself as a “naughty Tory”, the prosecutor said.

The case continues.