Ex-solicitor guilty of sex assaults on his clients

A RETIRED Plymouth criminal defence solicitor has been found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting several of his former clients.

- CARL EVE [e-mail]

Alan Harris, aged 72 and from Thorn Park, Plymouth, appeared at Winchester Crown Court where he faced 12 charges of indecent assault, eight charges of sexual assault and two charges of rape, dating from 1989 to 2015.

The charges related to eight people - seven men and one woman.

The majority of the victims were in their teens when the assaults were said to have taken place in a number of locations, including the cells and consultation rooms at Charles Cross police station, the cells under Plymouth Magistrates' Court, and in his car. None of the victims can be identified for legal reasons.