Harris groped girl after seeking hug, court hears

A woman has told a London court that when she confronted Rolf Harris for allegedly groping her teenage daughter, he claimed "she liked it".

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An Australian woman has told a London court she was groped by Rolf Harris when, as a teenager, the entertainer insisted on a hug when all she wanted was a handshake.

The NSW woman said she told her mother Harris was "very handy" after the alleged assault at a hardware store more than 20 years ago.

When her mother subsequently confronted the entertainer, she says Harris switched from smiling to sneering and claimed "well, she liked it".

The two Australians gave evidence via video-link on Thursday at Harris's child sex trial.

They said Harris harassed them separately at a promotion for a local radio station and British Paints at a small hardware store in the Newcastle suburb of Hamilton in 1991.

The daughter was aged 15 or 16 at the time.

She told Southwark Crown Court that, when her mother introduced her to Harris, she put out her hand to shake his but instead the entertainer insisted "Nah, give us a hug".

Harris then allegedly groped her left breast and right buttock.

"It was very deliberate," the woman, now in her late 30s, told the jury.

"I stepped back and he laughed."

The witness said she told her mother that Harris was "very handy" and "a dirty old man".

The mother told the court that Harris seemed to "hone in on" the daughter at the hardware store in 1991.

The mother recalled seeing the teenager suddenly pull away from Harris and appear taken aback.

She told the jury her daughter told her: "Mum, he's very handy."

She then had her own run-in with the celebrity.

"He (Harris) got very close behind me, he was close enough to be rubbing against my buttocks," the mother said on Thursday.

"He was rubbing his groin in my buttocks. It was very brief but very forceful."

The woman said she brought her foot down on the artist's foot and, looking Harris in the eye, told him he was a "disgusting creature".

She said Harris's expression changed from a friendly smile to a sneer.

"The switch was almost instantaneous," the witness said.

Harris then allegedly lent into the mother's face and said "she liked it" while looking towards her teenage daughter.

"It was the way he said it that was so disturbing - it was really sinister."

Under cross examination from defence lawyer Sonia Woodley QC, the daughter denied she had jumped on the bandwagon after seeing another Australian woman, Tonya Lee, make allegations against Harris on A Current Affair in May 2013.

The witness said she'd seen the way Ms Lee was "hounded by the media" and she didn't want anything to do with the matter.

She only agreed to give evidence anonymously because she thought if she'd come forward at the time perhaps others wouldn't have been assaulted.

"I was extremely naive," she said of the day she was allegedly groped at the hardware store.

"He (Harris) was old enough to be my grandfather. I have been quite affected by it. It was extremely unacceptable."

Harris is charged with indecently assaulting four girls in the UK between 1968 and 1986. The 84-year-old denies all 12 counts.

The trial continues.


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Source: AAP



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