Charlie Elphicke trial: Ex-MP sex assault claims are 'almost identical'

A former Conservative MP sexually assaulted two women in "almost identical" circumstances nine years apart, a court has heard.

Charlie Elphicke, the former MP for Dover, is accused of one count of sexual assault in 2007, and two further counts against a second woman in 2016.

The accounts of the women, who do not know each other, are so similar that it "can't be a coincidence," jurors at Southwark Crown Court were told.

Mr Elhpicke, 49, denies all charges.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said the women had both "suffered very similar assaults at the hands of Mr Elphicke", adding: "It is accepted there is no evidence of collusion."

Mr Elphicke is alleged to have groped one woman, aged in her 30s, at his London home in 2007 while his wife, the current MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, was away for the first time since the birth of their son.

He is alleged to have chanted "I'm a naughty Tory", while chasing the woman around his house.

A second woman, a parliamentary worker aged in her 20s, alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Mr Elphicke on two occasions in 2016.

She alleged that Mr Elphicke said he was "so naughty sometimes" after groping her after they had a drink together in Westminster.

The language allegedly used on both occasions is so similar that "it can't be a coincidence", Ms Marshall said in her closing remarks to the jury.

Mr Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault.

The trial continues.