Folk musician Roy Harper abused and indecently assaulted girls, court told

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/20/folk-musician-roy-harper-abused-assaulted-girls-court

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An acclaimed folk rock musician sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in the 1970s and indecently assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1980, a jury has been told.

Singer-songwriter Roy Harper’s alleged assaults against the younger girl caused her to drink in later life to forget the attacks on her, Worcester crown court heard.

Opening the case against Harper, who is now 73, prosecutor Anthony Potter told jurors that several offences against the younger victim were alleged to have occurred at the singer’s then home near Marden, Herefordshire.

The alleged victim told police Harper’s home had been an “exciting” place to be when she was younger because there were lots of famous people there. She told officers: “I couldn’t wait to go round there. I felt special. There were lots of famous people, it was a nice place to be.”

Asked by the policewoman who conducted the interview, how her life had been affected, the alleged victim replied: “I think about it daily. I drink far too much to get to sleep - just to forget about it.” The court was told she had also attempted suicide twice.

Explaining that the girl, now in her late 40s, recalled Harper having a range of famous guests, Potter told jurors: “He is a man of some undoubted musical ability and it is a matter of fact that he enjoyed a degree of fame in the 1970s.

“The allegations cover a time period which, to use his description to the police, was when he was on top of the world and really making waves in the music industry, to a period when he was struggling with financial difficulties.”

Harper, of Rossmore, near Clonakilty, County Cork, denies four counts of indecent assault, four of indecency with a child and two of having sexual intercourse with an underage girl. It is alleged that Harper committed nine offences against the younger complainant in the mid-1970s, and one offence against the older girl at an address in Hereford in 1980.

Jurors heard complaints were made to police in 2012 and 2013 about Harper, who denied that anything improper had happened with either complainant.

After outlining the younger victim’s claims, Potter added: “It seems that it was the report of this allegation that led the second complainant to come forward.”

The second complainant alleges that Harper pressed himself against her and exposed himself, before making “grudging comments” and leaving the house where the incident is said to have taken place.

The trial, which is expected to last for around two weeks, continues.