An MP intentionally groped the breasts of two women at London's Groucho Club without their consent, a court has heard. Patrick Spencer, the Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, is accused of drunkenly coming up behind the women and putting his arms around them during a night out in August 2023.
Prosecutor Polly Dyer told Southwark Crown Court that the incident happened on 12 August 2023 and that Spencer had "intentionally touched the breasts of two women, that it was sexual and without their consent". The events unfolded after guests had heard a musical performance and were drinking in the club's Soho bar.
“Patrick Spencer, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, is on trial for groping two women's breasts at the Groucho Club.”
The first victim told the court that a man she did not know tried to start a conversation and was "insistent she had a drink despite her saying no several times". She sipped the drink he bought her "to appease him", describing him as "animated" and appearing to have been drinking. She moved away, but later crossed paths with him again at the bar. Turning her back to avoid him, she felt his hands under her arms touching her breasts. "It took her completely by surprise, and she immediately moved away from him," Dyer said.
Shortly after, Spencer allegedly assaulted a second woman. "She considered the male to be drunk," the prosecutor added. "He was unsteady and slurring." That woman likewise sipped a drink he bought her "in the hope he would go away". Dyer told jurors: "She will tell you at one point the male approached her from behind, reached his arms around her, and placed both his hands on top of her breasts. She was taken aback and peeled his hands from her."
Jurors were shown slowed-down CCTV footage of Spencer unsteady on his feet that night and of the moments he approached the women. After the incident, he made a hand gesture toward the four friends he was with and was asked to leave the club following complaints.
Spencer, who lives in Suffolk and was elected as an MP in July 2024, has denied two counts of sexual assault. The trial is expected to last between four and five days.
