Charlie Elphicke: Ex-Dover MP given more time to pay £35k fine

A former MP who was jailed for sexually assaulting two women has been given until September next year to pay £35,000 owed in court costs.

Charlie Elphicke was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2020 after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault following a trial.

The ex-Dover Tory MP served half his sentence and was released in September.

Elphicke was ordered to pay £35,000 within a year towards the costs of the prosecution.

Appearing at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Friday, he asked for more time to "get back on my feet".

The hearing was told Elphicke, 50, of Fulham, south-west London, had not yet paid anything towards the costs.

The court also heard Elphicke, a former lawyer, had just under £2,000 in his bank account, with no other assets, investments or shares.

Last month, his barrister Ian Winter QC said his client had "a fair bit of debt", and that his estranged wife, Natalie Elphicke, now the MP for Dover, loaned him £100,000 to pay for legal bills.

The court heard that he received £51,000 from the sale of his marital home but most of the money had been used in legal fees and to pay rent.

Elphicke said: "What I have to do is get back on my feet. It is difficult to have a full view of the spectrum at the moment. I'm doing everything I can."

He added: "I hope to earn money in due course but at the moment I haven't been able to."

The former MP said he had "actively engaged" with Fulham job centre about a future career, and he had been seeking Universal Credit.

Magistrate Davinderpal Kooner said the court had "no desire to set people up to fail" and asked him to repay the money by 15 September 2022.

Elphicke was also asked to attend a hearing at the same court on 25 March to check on his progress in repaying the costs.

"I'm in the court's hands," Elphicke said.

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