Solicitor 'was blatant' in abusing man in court cell

ALLEGED VICTIM TELLS TRIAL 'HE THINKS HE CAN GET AWAY WITH IT'

- By CARL EVE

A MAN who claimed a former defence solicitor sexually abused him while he was in a cell at Plymouth Magistrates' court told a jury that the solicitor “doesn’t give a **** - he was blatant, he thinks he can get away with it, well, he did, didn’t he”.

Alan Harris, 71 and from Thorn Park in Plymouth, faces 30 charges at his trial, which began last week at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire. He denies all the charges.

The court previously heard from prosecutor Anne Whyte KC, who said Harris spent his working life as a criminal solicitor in Plymouth and, as such, came into contact with “hundreds” of people over the years charged with, or suspected of, criminal offences.

She said it was his job to get “the best possible outcome for them” but told the jury that Harris instead used is professional access to his clients “as the opportunity to sexually abuse them, often in plain sight, safe in the knowledge that due to their particular circumstances they were effectively impotent to do anything about it or to report him at the time.”

She went on to explain how Male C who cannot be identified for legal reasons claimed that during four or five consultations Harris touched him sexually, the first time at Charles Cross police station in a consultation room, and that Harris “gripped” him tightly, pulled him close, sexually touched him and rubbed himself against Male C saying “don’t worry, we're going to get you bail”.

Male C told police during the interview that he was afraid to say anything and had no faith in the police. He said on another occasion Harris offered him a lift home, but instead drove him down a gravel track, gave him £20, “knowing he would have been desperate for money” to buy drugs. He then allegedly rubbed Male C’s genitals.