Veteran Australian artist and entertainer ... Rolf Harris arrives with his wife Alwen Hughes (right) and daughter Bindi (left) at Southwark Crown Court in central London. Picture: Leon Neal Source: AFP
AUSTRALIAN entertainment icon Rolf Harris has arrived at court to stand trial for allegedly indecently assaulting four girls.
His alleged history of sexual abuse began with an indecent assault of a pre-teen girl as early as 1968, the year he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
Mr Harris, who is facing the opening of his sex-abuse trial in Southwark Crown Court, London, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of indecent assault against four girls, aged seven to 19, between 1968 and 1986.
The alleged offending occurred during the height of Mr Harris's international career which saw him celebrated in Australia, England and the US as a singer/songwriter, artist and TV host.
The now 84-year-old, from Bray in Berkshire, has consistently denied the charges against him.
Trial judge Justice Nigel Sweeney told jurors they must approach the case in an open-minded fashion, use their life experience to assess witnesses and ignore material and media coverage outside the courtroom.
Accompanied during his entrance to court by his wife Alwen, once inside the London courtroom Mr Harris sat behind the glass-walled dock and listened intently as the prosecution outlined the case against him.
The assaults against child victims were alleged to have occurred after Mr Harris rose to fame in the early 1960s with his hit song 'Tie me kangaroo down, Sport', his famous depiction of the Jake the Peg character and the international fascination in his didgeridoo and 'wobbleboard' playing.
Throughout the period of alleged offending, Mr Harris's prominence as a television personality continued to increase courtesy of the BBC1 program The Rolf Harris Show in the 1960s and 70s.
He was the subject of a This Is Your Life special and later hosted programs including Rolf's Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital.
Not alone ... Rolf Harris arrives with his wife Alwen Hughes and daughter Bindi at Southwark Crown Court in central London. Picture: Leon Neal Source: AFP
The charge sheet filed before the court lists 12 counts of indecent assault, including against a girl aged seven or eight on an occasion between January 1968 and January 1970; of a girl, 14, between January 1975 and January 1976; of a girl aged 12 to 15 between December 1978 and April 1981; of a girl aged 14 to 15 between 1978 and 1981; of a girl aged 12 to 15 between the same dates; of a girl aged 19 between January 1984 and January 1985 and of a girl aged 14 on May 31, 1986.
In 1982, Mr Harris performed at the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.
A few years after the last alleged offence, in 1989, Mr Harris presented a child abuse prevention video called 'Kids can say no'.
A jury panel of 12, comprising six men and six women, and three additional jurors, are expected to hear evidence over several weeks.
Perth-born Mr Harris, who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1962 but regularly returned to Australia for family visits and promotional events, was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 and advanced to Officer (AO) in the Queen's 2012 Birthday Honours.
In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal "for service to entertainment, charity and the community" and in 2005 painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth.
Prior to the prosecution opening, Justice Sweeney told jurors that while he was the judge of the law, they alone were the judges of the facts.
"As judge of the law, I have various duties to manage the conduct of the trial, to see fair play and to rule, typically in your absence, on any legal argument and in due course to sum the case up to you, directing you on the law that you will have to apply," Justice Sweeney said.
"As judges of the facts, your duty, pooling your common sense and experience of life, is to assess the witnesses and the other evidence that is put before you in the trial, and in due course to decide the relevant facts and thereby, having applied my directions of law, to reach a verdict according to the evidence.
"A number of duties follow from your role as judges of the facts. It's your duty to try the case on the evidence. The evidence is the evidence that you hear in this courtroom and nothing else."
He warned jurors not to discuss the case with anyone else, not to post entries on social media and not to research the case themselves.
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