An MP was being “a bit of a pest” before he groped two women at London’s Groucho club, one of the alleged victims has said.
Patrick Spencer, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, is accused of grabbing the women from behind and sexually assaulting them during a night out at the Soho private members’ club in August 2023.
One of the women told Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday that she was “shocked” when her breasts were grabbed by a man who had persistently tried to engage her in conversation and buy her a cocktail.
“As I was leaving the bar with my drink, he put his arms through my arms and touched my breasts,” she said.
“I carried on walking, I was shocked, I carried on walking, I wanted to get away.”
She told jurors she did not know who the man was, and described him as “being a bit of a pest”.
Spencer, 38, who lost the Conservative whip in Parliament after being charged with two counts of sexual assault, denies the allegations and says he did not touch the breasts of either alleged victim.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman said she had gone to the Groucho Club with her husband to see a musical performance on August 12 2023, and by around 11.30pm she was in the Soho bar to order a drink.
She said: “He started talking to me, general chit chat, I can’t remember how the conversation went, until he asked me: ‘Are you married?’ which I thought was a bit personal.
“That’s when I thought I need to move away.”
She described Spencer as being “quite animated” and friendly, but said when he started questioning her about her marriage she “felt like he was invading my personal space”.
The woman told the court Spencer had four cocktails on the bar, and he was “insisting” that she try one of the drinks.
“I didn’t want one,” she said.
“He was very insistent, even though I said: ‘No’ a number of times.
“He was very insistent and I felt I couldn’t walk away until I had taken a sip of the drink.”
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the man followed her out of the bar into an alcove as she headed to the smoking area to join her husband, in an apparent attempt to continue the conversation.
She said the sexual assault happened when she later returned to the bar.
Afterwards, she told another woman about the incident but did not want to tell her husband, fearing how he would react.
Another woman entered the room and “overheard me, and she said: ‘The same thing just happened to me’”.
Cross-examining the woman, Spencer’s barrister Eleanor Laws KC showed footage and argued that it demonstrated that the defendant “barely touched” her.
The woman insisted there had been contact and she had “pushed away from him”.
She added that he touched her “for a millisecond and I moved away when I felt a touch”.
The court has heard Spencer was confronted about his behaviour and asked to leave the Groucho Club, and he was identified as the man in the CCTV the following year.
Opening the case on Monday, prosecutor Polly Dyer said Spencer is accused of being “unsteady on his feet” and slurring his words when trying to talk to one of the women.
CCTV from inside the Groucho has been played to the court, showing Spencer sat with friends and walking around the bar area.
The footage also shows him coming up behind one of the alleged victims and allegedly grabbing her breasts as he puts his arms around them, before she is seen to push his hands away.
Spencer can then be seen making a hand gesture with his clenched fist as the woman walks away.
Spencer, whose full name is Michael Patrick Spencer, was elected as a Conservative MP in the 2024 general election.
The politician, who lives in Suffolk, was suspended from the Tory Party and had the whip withdrawn after the sexual assault charges were brought last year.
When interviewed by police, he described his behaviour that night as “overfriendly”, but insisted he had not intended to touch either of the women “inappropriately”.
The court has heard Spencer denies two counts of sexual assault, and denies touching the breasts of either woman.
The trial continues.
