Max Clifford: 'I Am Not Into Young Girls'

Celebrity publicist Max Clifford has told a court he is not into young girls but ''knows plenty of people who are".

Clifford made the claim as he continued giving evidence at his indecent assault trial for a second day.

The 70-year-old was asked by his defence barrister Richard Horwell QC if he was ever "sexually interested in a 15-year-old girl".

The woman, who is now in her 50s, has told Southwark Crown Court she met Clifford during a Spanish holiday in 1977 and claimed he later indecently assaulted her in his car and made her take her clothes off in his office.

He told the court: "No, no, it wasn't me ... plenty of people I know are into younger girls but it has never been me. It just doesn't make any sense at all.

"If I had wanted to have a relationship, there were hotels, places I'd already been. What is the satisfaction of doing this in a car? Where is the stimulation? It's crazy, just a load of lies."

Clifford was asked several times if he had made the girl perform sex acts on him and said her claims were "totally and utterly untrue".

Earlier Clifford told the court he had been in Torremolinos, Spain, with his wife and family in June or July 1977 and the only thing he remembered was saving the life of a four-year-old Belgian holidaymaker.

Clifford also denied claims by the woman he had a yellow Jaguar, saying he did not like the colour, but he did say he had driven the luxury car brand before switching to Bentleys.

He was also asked about claims by another woman who says she was groped by him in a taxi while driving to London Bridge in 1978, but he denied ever being in the area or having any interests there.

He added: "What kind of sense does that make? I'm supposed to have been on my own with her in my office for six hours and then assaulted her. It's stupid and ridiculous.

"I've been on my own with the woman for six hours then as soon as we have gone outside in a public place in the taxi I then tried to grope her? Nothing ever happened of the sort. I don't even remember the girl. It's absolutely ridiculous."

When asked if he had ever met disgraced broadcaster Jimmy Savile, Clifford said he had not, but he may have dealt with his Jim'll Fix It Show in connection with Hercules the bear, who appeared in the James Bond movie Octopussy.

He was asked what had happened following the Savile revelations and Clifford said: "Dozens and dozens of women called wanting to sell stories on Jimmy Savile."

When asked what he did, Clifford said: "I told them to call the police."

He was asked about claims he groped women in his office after telling them he could get them parts in a Charles Bronson film and in soap opera Dynasty. "It's too ridiculous for words. I know they (victims) are lying but they are not even clever."

When asked if he had ever imitated Dynasty producer Aaron Spelling Clifford said: "No, I never met the man. I don't even know what he sounds like."

Clifford's defence also asked him about a woman's claim that she had regularly "left the office in tears" after he exposed himself to her and tried to grope her.

"If she was so upset, why on earth did he come back to see me a year later? It didn't happen. I know it couldn't have happened. The fact she came back to see me 13 months later looking for some help must give you an indication that it never happened."

After lunch Clifford was asked about claims by one alleged victim he assaulted her while in a jacuzzi when she was 12 on a Spanish holiday in 1983.

When asked if he was sexually interested in a girl of that age Clifford said: "I've said it before, the thought is utterly repulsive and repugnant. One of the worst of all the awful things I have been accused of. It's disgusting filth and absolutely revolting."

He was also questioned about claims he had exposed himself to a then 18-year-old woman in 1986. The witness claimed it happened at a flat and Clifford's friend had then gone off to have sex with the woman who lived there.

Clifford denied the claim and said he was in a relationship with the woman who lived there, describing it as "deep and meaningful", adding that at the time he was also "very married".

He went on to say suggestions his friend had sex with her were ridiculous. Clifford said: "I was in love with her. Had I not been married I would have married her and she me."

Mr Horwell also asked him about claims he had sex in a toilet with a woman who came to his office and again dismissed the suggestion.

"That lavatory was very small and was used by everybody on the third floor and most people on the second floor.

"There was a busy hairdressing salon, a lot of people were there at the time ... it would have been like having sex in Piccadilly Circus."

Clifford, from Hersham, Surrey, denies eleven counts of indecent assault between 1966 and 1984 on seven girls and women. The trial continues.