Harris family ‘staged entrances at court to give impression of unity’

London: The Harris family was accused of making “staged” entrances at Southwark Crown Court, as if to present a united front for the benefit of the waiting media. Rolf Harris would walk into the building each morning accompanied by his wife of more than 50 years.

Harris met Alwen Hughes, a sculptress with whom he was at art school, in 1958. She remains a well-regarded artist in her own right and is known for her flamboyant personal style, wearing bright colours and beaded hairstyles.

Mrs Harris suffers from arthritis and has difficulty walking — often being seen with a stick or furled umbrella for support.

The entertainer was forced to admit publicly how his wife had been “devastated” by his sexual indiscretions, including a fling with a woman in her mid-thirties who stayed with the couple as a housekeeper and driver in the mid-Nineties.

Each day at court the Harris family group would also include their daughter and, sometimes, Harris’s niece, Jenny. Somewhat marring the homely image were several closely shorn private security guards who also accompanied the family but attempted, unsuccessfully, to blur into the background.

It is not unusual for a defendant facing charges of sexual impropriety to attempt to present themselves in the best possible light. But in Harris’s case his travel arrangements and the very public attempt to massage his image actually became part of the evidence in the trial.

During her time in the witness box Bindi Nicholls, Harris’s daughter, under questioning from Sasha Wass QC, prosecuting, admitted the family actually travelled to Southwark separately each day.

“My husband takes me to my dad’s manager’s house. We then get the Tube to London Bridge, then I go to the coffee shop, then when mum and dad get here, I go down and sit in the car, then we drive round and then we get out and have photos taken by the press and then I sit in the café all day,” she said.

At the end of the day, the same scenario was played out in reverse. Ms Wass asked: “So the whole thing is effectively staged?” Bindi replied: “No, it’s just I want to be there for my mum and dad and I want to be seen to be.”

For the most part Alwen, who relies heavily on her husband for support following hip surgery, looked as if she was in a world of her own as the evidence against her husband unfolded.

As Harris walked slowly from the building yesterday afternoon to face a throng of international media he was flanked on either side by his emotional wife and daughter. Bell Pottinger, the PR heavyweights, said Harris and his family will not be commenting on the verdicts, either here or in Australia.