Former Dover MP Charlie Elphicke jailed over sexual assault
The former Conservative MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, has been jailed for sexual assault.
Elphicke was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault following a trial at Southwark Crown Court back in July this year.
The 49-year-old was on trial accused of groping one woman in his home in 2007 while Natalie Elphicke, his wife and successor as Dover MP, was away on work business for the first time since giving birth to their son.
He was also charged with sexually assaulting a second complainant, a parliamentary worker in her early 20s, twice in 2016.
On Tuesday (15 September) Elphicke was sentenced to a total of two years imprisonment.
He has also been ordered to pay £35,000 towards the prosecutions costs, within 12 months.
One of former MP Charlie Elphicke's victims has welcomed his sexual assault convictions, saying: "I feel heard."
Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC read a statement from the woman, who was in her early 30s at the time and said Elphicke chanted "I'm a naughty Tory" moments after the assault.
She said the effect of what Elphicke did meant she had a "significantly increased sense of caution" when coming into contact with men she did not know.
The judge, Mrs Justice Whipple, said: "Both women described very similar and shocking assaults on them. You are a sexual predator who used your success and respectability as a cover." Charlie Elphicke's legal team says he will appeal.