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Rolf Harris walks FREE after jury fails to reach verdict on charges

The jury could not reach verdicts

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Rolf Harris has walked from court a free man after the jury failed to reach a verdict in his trial over alleged attacks on girls.

Prosecutors have ruled out a retrial for the ex-TV presenter, who denied indecently assaulting three teenage girls between 1971 and 1983.

The 87-year-old was previously tried twice over sex attack allegations in the 1970s and 1980s, and spent time in prison for the previous unconnected incidents.

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Judge Deborah Taylor dismissed these charges today as the jury could not reach a verdict.

Prosecutors Jonathan Rees QC told the court on Tuesday: “We have reviewed whether it would be appropriate to seek a further retrial on these allegations.

“We have come to the firm view that it would not.

“Accordingly we offer no evidence to the four counts on the indictment.”

The jury at Southwark Crown Court spent five hours deliberating before being discharged.

A statement read by Rolf Harris’ lawyer said: “I feel no sense of victory, only relief.”

“I’m 87 years old, my wife is in ill health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together in peace.”

The Australian entertainer was accused of groping a 14-year-old during a concert at Lyceum Theatre in London in 1971.

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Two further charges related to indecently assaulting a teenager in 1978 during filming the ITV show Star Games.

A 13-year-old also said that he touched her breast while filming BBC’s Saturday Superstore in 1983.

The former star left Stafford prison part-way through this retrial after serving three years out of a five-year and nine-month sentence given to him in June 2014 after being found guilty of 12 unconnected sex attacks on young girls and women.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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