'Rolf Harris victim wrote of great time in her diary on day of alleged assault'

 
Rolf Harris arrives at court today Picture: Jeremy Selwyn
Kiran Randhawa13 May 2014
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The holiday journal of a teenager who claims she was sexually abused by Rolf Harris included no mention of him molesting her, a court heard today.

Instead the diary, written when she was 13, said she had a “great” day with the entertainer and his family.

Under cross-examination at Southwark crown court today, the alleged victim — who was a friend of Harris’s daughter Bindi — was taken through diary entries from the holiday to Hawaii in 1978.

She claims that Harris, 84, touched her intimately during the trip, and went on to abuse her for another 15 years. The woman is named on seven of the 12 counts of indecent assault relating to four women between 1968 and 1986 that veteran entertainer Harris faces, all of which he denies.

Defending, Sonia Woodley QC asked her: “No mention in the diary or any hint of anything which had happened to you at the hands of Rolf Harris, is there?” She replied: “I wouldn’t have put it in the diary.”

Giving evidence from behind a curtain she went on: “I would have made it sound better in the diary.”

When asked: “Was that a happy holiday for you?”, the woman replied: “Basically, yes it was.”

Ms Woodley said that there was “no hint of unhappiness” in the notes, and put it to the woman that she could be “stubborn, wilful and argumentative” as a teenager — and that she and Harris began a consensual sexual relationship when she was 18.

She “flirted” with Harris and the pair enjoyed a “sexual chemistry” when she visited the family home in Bray, Berkshire, it was suggested.

The witness repeatedly answered ‘no’ in response to the suggestions.

Harris sat in the dock wearing a light grey suit and white and pink striped shirt listening to the proceedings through a hearing loop.

The witness alleged yesterday that Harris sexually abused her once while Bindi was sleeping only feet away when she was 15.

Ms Woodley questioned the woman over whether she had visited the Harris home in Bray before or after she was 16. The barrister asked: “I suggest you didn’t go there until after you were 16. I don’t suppose you can remember, can you, times and dates?” “No, I can’t,” the alleged victim said.

The barrister said: “It’s quite possible that you didn’t go there until after you were 16?” The woman replied: “Quite possible.”

The trial continues.

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