Rolf Harris pleads not guilty to seven sex assault charges

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Disgraced children's entertainer Rolf Harris has appeared in court accused of seven more sex attacks - including an assault on a disabled woman.

He is also alleged to have molested a girl under the age of 14 at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane in west London in 1983.

And 21 years later Harris is said to have struck again at Television Centre, indecently assaulting a woman there in 2004.

The 85-year-old appeared via videolink at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with seven more sex attacks on girls and women spanning four decades and dating back to the early 1970s.

He is said to have molested girls at the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden, outside Radio Victory, an independent station in Portsmouth, and in Jesus Green, a park overlooking the river in Cambridge.

He indicated not guilty pleas to all the charges.

His barrister Stephen Vullo QC requested that the full details of the charges Harris faced were not read out in court in front of the “media circus”.

But this was firmly rejected by District Judge Quentin Purdy who pointed out it is a public hearing and the charges should be put in full.

Wearing a grey suit, white shirt and the same bright, colourful striped tie he wore when he was sentenced last time, Harris rested his hand on a paper cup of water as he sat at a desk in the prison room.

The elderly artist spoke to say “Good afternoon” to the district judge and to give his address.

He answered “not guilty” as the charges were put to him one by one.

The public gallery was packed with reporters from Britain, Australia and New Zealand, with some forced to stand because there were not enough seats.

District Judge Purdy sent the case to London's Southwark Crown Court where Harris will appear on 14 April.

The seven allegations are:

:: Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 at the Lyceum Theatre in London in 1971.

:: Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 outside Radio Victory in Portsmouth in 1977.

:: Indecent assault on a disabled woman over the age of 16 outside a London hospital in 1977.

:: Indecent assault on a woman over the age of 16 at Jesus Green in Cambridge in 1978.

:: Indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane in 1983.

:: Indecent assault on a woman over the age of 16 at Terminal's Studios in London in 2002.

:: Indecent assault on a woman over the age of 16 at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane in 2004, and the alternate charge to this is one count of sexual touching on a female aged 13 or over at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane in 2004.

Delivering a statement on the court steps on behalf of Harris's family, solicitor Daniel Berke said: “We are disappointed and saddened that the CPS have decided to take Rolf, who will be 86 years old at the end of March, on another trial.

”Nevertheless he has, as he has always done, cooperated with the authorities.

“We, for our part, will do all we can as a family to assist him in proving his innocence.”

PA