Rolf Harris Claimed He Wasn't In Cambridge In 1978. Video Says Otherwise

  • 02 June 2014

Rolf Harris has been accused of deliberately lying in court after telling a jury that he was not in the city of Cambridge in 1978. The Australian entertainer - who is facing charges of indecent assault - was proved wrong when video footage emerged of him filming the celebrity TV show Star Games.

Image caption Rolf Harris Has Been Accused of Lying in Court

Harris insisted that his alleged victim - who claims he assaulted her at the event - must have been lying. Sacha Wass, QC, prosecuting, showed the footage in court and accused Harris of lying.

She said: "When you told the jury with such confidence last week that you had never been in Cambridge until four years ago, that was a deliberate lie, wasn't it?"

Harris claimed he did not realise the show was being filmed in Cambridge, reports the Guardian.

More: Prosecutor alleges "Jekyll and Hyde" personality in Rolf Harris trial

"I didn't find that it was in Cambridge until I saw the video played back and at the very beginning the announcer [Michael Aspel] said it was in Cambridge . That was the first time I heard the word Cambridge. I had no idea. I don't think anyone knew. None of the performers, none of the stars."

The jury was shown footage of the 1978 celebrity gameshow, in which Harris wore a yellow vest and entertained onlookers by jumping up and down like a kangaroo.

"I'm going to suggest that you are the one that has lied and this [footage] demonstrates it. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harris replied.

The prosecutor continued: "There's no way you could have forgotten that event and you deliberately tried to mislead them [the jury] . That was a deliberate lie."

Harris said: "No. A lapse of memory."

Image caption Rolf Harris Is Accused of Indecent Assault

Giving evidence last month, the alleged victim claimed Harris had been on all fours barking at a dog before indecently assaulting her.

"We were inside the marquee clearing up and there was the sound of a loud sort of dog barking.

"Someone suggested that someone went outside to see what was going on, so I went outside. He was crouched on all fours."

She added: "There was like a small semicircle of people around the two of them, people laughing and Rolf Harris was sort of playing up to the crowd."

The woman told jurors she was star-struck by Harris and frozen when he firmly put his arm around her before touching her bottom. "It went up and down my back and his hand went over my bottom, and was very firm," she said.

Rolf Harris, 84, denies 12 counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986.

The trial continues.