Suspended Conservative MP Patrick Spencer denies two counts of sexual assault
Spencer, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, allegedly cupped the breasts of two women over their clothes at the famous private members' club on an evening in August 2023.
The 37-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, where he confirmed his full name – Michael Patrick Spencer – and date of birth before pleading not guilty to the offences.
Prosecutor Polly Dyer told the court that the first complainant 'felt Mr Spencer put his arms under her arms' before he 'cupped her breasts over the clothing'.
Of the second complainant, the prosecutor alleged 'he moved behind her and also cupped her breasts with his hands over clothing'.
Ms Dyer added that neither woman consented to the alleged touching.
The court heard a complaint was made to the Groucho Club and a report made to the police, with Spencer interviewed by officers earlier this year.
He is due to appear at Southwark Crown Court on July 14.
Lawyers acting for the MP have previously said he 'categorically denies the charges' against him, adding: 'He has co-operated fully with the police investigation from the moment he became aware of it and he will defend the allegations robustly in court.'
The politician, who lives in Suffolk, was suspended from the Conservative Party and had the whip withdrawn after the charges were brought.
Spencer was first elected to Parliament last year with a majority of 4,290.
Prior to entering Parliament, he worked in finance for private equity firm IPGL, a company chaired by his father, former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Michael Spencer.
He later took a job at the Centre for Social Justice think thank and then becoming a senior adviser at the Department for Education.
He made his maiden speech in the Commons in July last year during a debate on the MPs' code of conduct relating to second jobs, during which he said the 'most important thing to the people across my constituency' was 'restoring a sense of moral probity and public spiritedness to our political system'.
Spencer made an application to have his home address withheld from the court which Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring granted.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tories deliberately trying to fuel hatred against asylum seekers, Yousaf says
The former first minister of Scotland has accused the Tories of 'deliberately trying to fuel hatred' against asylum seekers by presenting them as a threat to women and children. Humza Yousaf said politicians like Robert Jenrick were 'reviving the old colonial lie that people from the east are somehow dangerous savages'. Mr Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has said he supports 'every peaceful protest outside an asylum hotel' and later attended one in Epping, where an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Demonstrations against asylum seekers staying in hotels have sprung up across the UK, including in Scotland, with those attending claiming they are making their communities less safe. Mr Jenrick, who previously ran for the Tory leadership, said small boat crossings in the English Channel amounted to a 'national security emergency', adding: 'The truth is that mass, uncontrolled immigration has been fuelling crime and made women and girls less safe. ' In a video posted to social media, Mr Yousaf hit back at the Tory claims, saying it was 'predatory men' who posed a danger to women, rather than people from any one group, such as asylum seekers. He said: 'As a father of three girls, let me tell you that it's not asylum seekers I'm worried about when it comes to my daughter's safety – it's men, predatory men, who come in every colour, every religion, are from every background. 'Of course, those who do commit heinous crimes against women, be they asylum seekers or those who have lived in the UK for 10 generations, they should and must feel the full force of the law. 'But when you purposely single out asylum seekers, as the Tories are doing, you're not interested in protecting women, you're deliberately trying to fuel hatred. 'You're reviving the old colonial lie that people from the east are somehow dangerous savages.' The former SNP leader said such rhetoric has turned 'fear into mobs who are ready to set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers', in reference to a riot in Rotherham last year in which a man who attempted to set fire to an asylum hotel. 'It leads to bricks through windows,' he added. 'It leads to fire bombs aimed at vulnerable families who've already fled war and persecution. 'And here's the truth, violence against women is committed by men from every walk of life. 'Blaming asylum seekers doesn't make women safer, it just makes society more divided, more suspicious, more willing to turn on the most vulnerable. 'What the Tories are doing isn't about women's safety, it's about stoking fear. It's the oldest populist trick in the book, let's make sure we don't fall.'
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
Prolific burglar who plaTyneside businesses jailed
A serial burglar who plagued dozens of businesses has been jailed after breaching three suspended prison sentences with his latest Thoburn, 44, smashed windows and raided five "small independent" businesses in Monkseaton, North Tyneside in June stealing hundreds of pounds including cash from a charity jar, Newcastle Crown Court the time Thoburn, who had previously been jailed for eight years for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl, was subject to suspended sentences for similar break-ins in Gateshead and Thoburn, who had more than 150 offences on his criminal record, was jailed for three years four months after admitting multiple burglaries. In the early hours of 2 June, Thoburn broke into two delis, a fish and chip shop, barber business and bakery in Monkseaton, prosecutor Antonia Adie total he stole about £1,700 in cash, including £58 from a tip jar and £40 from a charity box, as well as causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage, the court of the businesses suffered further losses as they had to be closed for repairs and clean ups after Thoburn's "messy" searches, Ms Adie barber shop owner said the break-in had had a "significant emotional and financial impact" on the "small family-owned business", while the fish and chip shop manager said he was "left feeling really annoyed and angry". 'Failed to register' Thoburn was subject to three suspended prison sentence orders at the time made by two magistrates' courts and the crown court, the prosecutor related to burglaries of a beauty salon, butcher shop, pottery studio and three barber shops in a one-night spree in Gateshead in November in which he stole cash and items worth £2,250, the court heard. He has also used a hammer to smash his way into Greggs at the Viking Centre in Jarrow and a cafe in South Shields a week also admitted multiple breaches of sex offender requirements because, as a homeless convicted child abuser, he had failed to register at a police station every seven order was made to last indefinitely in 2016 after he was jailed for six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, the court heard. 'Left misery in wake' Judge Amanda Rippon said Thoburn had 70 burglaries on his record and a further 30 or so he had asked to take into consideration, which meant by her calculation he had been convicted of raiding at least 100 businesses. She said he targeted "small independent" firms, many of whom operated on a "knife-edge" and needed "every penny" they earned."You left misery for the owners in your wake," the judge told Thoburn, adding the impact was "long-lasting and significant".Judge Rippon said she accepted much of his offending stemmed from a drug addiction caused by "awful abuse" he was subjected to as a she said he had to "come a point" when he acknowledged the damage caused in his past but made "a choice to no longer let that define who you are and what you do".She said other judges and magistrates had tried to give him a chance with suspended sentences but he was not ready for the help they offered. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Telegraph
5 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Labour poised to take control of Gupta's UK steel factories
The Government is poised to take over operations at Britain's third largest steelworks, aiming to save 1,500 jobs at Sanjeev Gupta's Rotherham-based factory. The High Court heard on Wednesday that the Government's official receiver is ready to step in as administrator if Mr Gupta is unable to finalise a rescue deal involving £75m from US giant BlackRock. 'The official receiver is prepared, should SSUK [Speciality Steel UK] enter into compulsory liquidation, to take control of SSUK's affairs,' the Department for Business and Trade said in a letter to Mr Gupta's creditors. The letter said the Government had held discussions with SSUK but had not been negotiating any taxpayer financial assistance to either Mr Gupta or any potential buyer of the company. The Government said it was also not discussing putting SSUK under state ownership. That 'would be the subject of formal ministerial decision, and no such decisions have been made'. The submission comes as creditors of SSUK seek to shut down the company in order to claim their debts. Mr Gupta is looking to avoid his company falling into the hands of the official receiver by in effect liquidating the company himself and using his fresh BlackRock funding for what the court was 'a management buyout'. In a court hearing, Judge Sally Barber said she could not decide on the spot whether to wind up SSUK – in effect putting the company under potential government management – or to let Mr Gupta go ahead with his plan. The judge said she needed more information on what would happen, saying she could not decide 'on a completely blind basis' having not seen a draft application from the official receiver. The matter is likely to return to court in the coming days, piling pressure on the Government to be more explicit about its plans for the cash-strapped plant.
