Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke claimed 'we're all at it' after saying he was a 'naughty Tory', court hears

Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke called himself a “naughty Tory” and told a woman he had sexually assaulted "we're all at it," a court has heard.

Mr Elphicke, who represented Dover in Parliament for nearly a decade, tried to kiss the woman then groped her breast and chased her around his home while trying to grab her bottom, Southwark Crown Court was told.

The incident happened in 2007, three years before he was elected to parliament, and allegedly took place at his family home in London while his two young children were asleep and his wife Natalie was away.

On Wednesday, the brother of the alleged victim said that his sister was "hysterical" and "could hardly get her words out" when she phoned him to tell him what had happened. He swiftly drove over to pick her up.

Under cross examination, the brother said: “In the van she told me he tried to grope and kiss her. She told me she pushed him away and ran to the room and locked the door.

“She said he was saying 'I'm a naughty Tory, we're all at it.''

Eloise Marshall, prosecuting, repeated: 'I'm a naughty Tory, we are all at it?'

“Yes,” he replied.

Defence counsel Ian Winter QC said the brother's police statement, taken a decade later, made no mention of the phrase "we're all at it", and suggested it was a detail added to his account following conversations with his sister.

Mr Winter said: "The reality is you have talked about this with your sister and that's why you've got more details and information for us today than you had before."

The witness replied: "No, that's not the case at all."

Earlier, the woman's sister described receiving a similar call moments after the incident.

She told the court: "(My sister) phoned, she was quite distressed, she was talking quickly. I had to ask her to calm down.

"She was clearly distressed, she was saying, 'He chased me round the kitchen'.

"It was a highly emotionally charged situation.

"When I recalled it to my husband (later), it just seemed totally bizarre. It seemed like something out of sketch show Benny Hill."

The MP, 49, is also accused of sexually assaulting a second woman, in 2016, who worked in Parliament during the defendant's time as an MP.

Mr Elphicke, Dover MP from 2010 until 2019 when he stood down and was succeeded by his wife, denies three counts of sexual assault.

The trial continues.