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Rolf Harris to face retrial on three sex offence charges and one new count

Former children's TV presenter accused of grabbing breasts of blind woman in 1977

Harriet Agerholm
Wednesday 15 February 2017 10:51 GMT
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Harris has pleaded not guilty to the new charge
Harris has pleaded not guilty to the new charge (Getty)

Former TV presenter Rolf Harris will face a retrial on three sex offence charges and one new count, a prosecutor at Southwark Crown Court has said.

Harris pleaded not guilty to the new charge.

The broadcaster, best known for his role on the children's TV programme Animal Hospital, was acquitted last Wednesday of the three charges.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court failed to return a verdict on four other counts.

The 86-year-old is in prison following a 2014 trial, which saw him convicted of 12 sex offences against four females, including one girl who was under 10 years old.

He was jailed for five years and nine months and was set to be freed on July 25, halfway through his prison term.

Harris had been acquitted indecently assaulting a young autograph hunter at a Portsmouth radio station in the 1970s.

He was also cleared of grabbing the breasts of a blind woman at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London in 1977, after she claimed Harris had "slobbered" over her and told her she was "good-looking".

Charges against him that alleged he sexually assaulted a woman in her 40s after filming a TV show in 2004 were also dropped.

Harris, formerly of Bray in Berkshire, denied all the charges against him.

His retrial will take place on 15 May.

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