Max Clifford trial: woman claims she was 'conned by a con artist' in alleged black cab assault

 
Max Clifford: denies the charges
13 March 2014
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted in a black cab by PR guru Max Clifford said she did not report it because she felt she had been "conned by a con artist," a court heard today.

The 19-year-old told a court the publicist launched himself at her in the back of the cab, trying to kiss her passionately and grab her breasts.

When she fought him off and declined his advances he called her a "p***k-tease" and told her to "f**k off."

The woman, now in her mid-50s, told Southwark crown court, that she worked for a recruitment agency in London and went to see Clifford at his offices in the West End in about 1978 about a vacancy he had for a PA.

At first it was a normal interview but then Clifford began talking about a list of celebrities he represented.

She told the jury:"He said some of his clients, and he specifically mentioned Oliver Reed, had odd sexual preferences. He explained that Oliver Reed liked young girls and that as his publicist that was a problem for him.

She described how the interview went on all afternoon and turned into a job interview for her.

"I remember thinking that it was a very glamorous job and it all sounded very exciting being involved with celebrities," she said.

The alleged victim eventually left with Clifford and the pair got in a taxi and she asked to go to Victoria.

Clifford told the cab driver to go to London Bridge and when she protested he said he had something to pick up from his flat and then he would drop her off at Victoria.

She said on the journey he suddenly started trying to kiss her.

Read More

She said :"He kind of launched himself at me and started trying to kiss me on the mouth which I said no to. I tried to hold him off. I put my arms up to hold his body off because he was pushing his body onto me. He was trying to give me a passionate kiss on the mouth."

She denied being attracted to Clifford. "Apart from anything he was much much much older than me, he was not a young attractive man, he was an old guy."

She said his hands were on my breasts, she said :" I kept telling him no and pushing him off."

She added that he was insulting, "saying horribly things to me, he said I had led him on and he called me a pxxxx tease. I remember that very clearly. He said I must have known what he wanted."

When the taxi reached London Bridge station he asked if she was coming with him but when she told him She wasn't he told her to "fuck off".

She told her agency that it was not safe to send young girls to Mr Clifford's office any more but did not tell anyone details of the incident.

The witness said she did not tell anyone because she felt "really, really stupid."

Her voice cracking with emotion she said : "I realised that there was a big cultural thing about politeness and I did not how to get away politely without causing offence.

"I felt the whole thing had been a trick from the beginning and I had fallen for it. I felt I had been conned by a con artist and i felt quite ashamed. I still do to be honest."

Under cross examination she admitted being confused about some details of her evidence but denied she had made the story up.

She could not explain the defence claim that she had called Clifford back some weeks later.

The alleged victim added that she had come forward to police finally to give credibility to other people who had allegedly been abused.

In a voice cracking with emotion she said: "Someone needed to know that he was not a nice man and that this would help these other women."

Clifford, 70, denies 11 counts of indecently assaulting seven women aged 14 to 19, between 1966 and 1984.

The trial continues.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in