Ex-MP jailed for 2 years for sexual assault in UK

Charlie Elphicke, 49, the former Tory MP for Dover, was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault in July after a trial at Southwark Crown Court, where he was sentenced this week. In both cases, Elphicke made unwanted sexual advances towards the women – both of whom he knew professionally – and sexually touched them.

A former Conservative Party lawmaker found guilty of sexual assault on two women was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a UK court on Tuesday. Charlie Elphicke, 49, the former Tory MP for Dover, was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault in July after a trial at Southwark Crown Court, where he was sentenced this week.

In both cases, Elphicke made unwanted sexual advances towards the women – both of whom he knew professionally – and sexually touched them. Judge Phillipa Whipple told Elphicke he was a "sexual predator who used your success and respectability as a cover".

"They told the truth, and you told a pack of lies – not only to the jury, but your wife, the whips and the police," she told him during the sentencing hearing. His lawyer had argued that he should not be jailed because he had "fully and completely" learned his lesson. It led to the end of his marriage to Natalie Elphicke, the current Tory MP for Dover.

One of the charges relates to the first victim, who was sexually assaulted by Elphicke at a residential address in Westminster in London in June 2007 when she was in her 30s. She contacted police about the incident in November 2017. The other two charges relate to two separate incidents involving the second victim, a woman in her 20s. “Elphicke was persistent in his sexual advances and showed a lack of self-restraint and regard for the two women who he assaulted. Their emotional wellbeing and professional lives have been deeply affected by what happened,” said Detective Sergeant Michael McInerney of the Metropolitan Police’s Complex Case team, part of Scotland Yard’s Central Specialist Crime unit.

“These were alarming, distressing incidents for both women and I would like to acknowledge their courage in reporting the incidents and co-operating with the police investigation. "Victims of non-recent sexual offences should not be deterred from reporting what happened to them to police. Specially trained investigators will investigate the claims and seek prosecutions where possible, whilst providing all the necessary support for victims,” he said. During the first incident in April 2016, he kissed the woman and sexually touched her without her consent. The following month, he touched her inappropriately despite being told to stop. Elphicke was interviewed under caution in March 2018, and gave his accounts of what happened on each occasion, denying any wrongdoing. He was charged in July 2019.