Harris to give evidence at child sex trial

Rolf Harris has sat through weeks of prosecution witnesses barely speaking but this week in London he'll take to the witness stand in his own defence.

Entertainer Rolf Harris leaving Southwark Crown Court in London.

Entertainer Rolf Harris is set to give evidence at his child sex trial in London. (AAP)

Rolf Harris, who has appeared increasingly animated over the opening weeks of his child sex trial in London, is about to move from the dock to the witness stand.

The veteran entertainer will give evidence at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday when the defence opens its case.

The now 84-year-old appeared frail and a bit confused when he first fronted court in September 2013.

Asked to confirm his personal details Harris gave his name before pausing and adding: "Um, what's next?" He then hesitatingly stated his address and date of birth.

He looked in better health in January as he stated "not guilty" in a loud and clear voice when 12 indecent assault charges were put to him.

For his trial proper, which started in early May, the performer arrived at court smiling with his wife Alwen and daughter Bindi by his side.

Inside, he sat in the glass-walled dock and for the first week was fairly inactive: he sat still and listened intently with the aid of a hearing loop. He only stood up during breaks.

But as the prosecution case dragged on - and the allegations kept coming - the entertainer became more animated.

He took to writing notes in an A4 notebook.

Everyone in court quickly learnt that the sound of a page being ripped out would, invariably, be followed by Harris standing up, walking to a slot in the glass window, rapping on the pane with his pen to summon one of his legal team, and then passing a note.

Last week, Harris appeared agitated when he wasn't given photographs that were shown to the jury. He asked for copies.

The defence will open with Harris on Tuesday but a picture of its case has already emerged during cross-examination of key prosecution witnesses by defence barrister Sonia Woodley QC.

Harris is charged with indecently assaulting four girls in the UK between 1968 and 1986.

The principal complainant is a childhood friend of Bindi.

She claims Harris abused her from the age of 13 and that in her 20s she agreed to consensual sex because the Australian had groomed her "like a pet".

The defence case is that she flirted with him after she was an adult due to their "sexual chemistry" and the pair subsequently had a 10-year "affair".

Ms Woodley has suggested the alleged victim made up the underage abuse allegations when confronted by her parents over her alcoholism.

The second complainant is NSW woman Tonya Lee who says Harris assaulted her when, aged 15, she travelled to London with a youth theatre group in 1986.

Harris himself has told police she made up the allegations possibly "motivated by a desire for fame and financial reward".

Ms Lee last week told the court that selling her story to Woman's Day and A Current Affair was "a huge regret, a huge mistake" - but she insisted she was telling the truth.

The final two complainants allege they were groped in the late 1960s and mid-1970s. They were, respectively, aged seven or eight and 13 or 14 at the time.

During cross-examination Ms Woodley suggested if they were assaulted 40 years ago it wasn't by Harris but by another celebrity.

The barrister on Friday made it clear there was no independent evidence to prove Harris was at either the community hall near Portsmouth or the Cambridge park where the incidents are said to have occurred.

On Tuesday, the man who gave the world the wobble board will, for the first time publicly, get to tell his version of events.

It's expected Harris's evidence will last two or three days.


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Source: AAP



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