A jury has been told to disregard any reports of a culture of sexual harassment in Westminster as they embark on the trial of a Conservative MP’s aide for rape.
Samuel Armstrong, 24, denies two charges of rape, one of assault by penetration and one of sexual assault on 14 October 2016.
A jury of seven women and five men were sworn in on the trial at Southwark crown court on Monday and were told by the judge Jeffrey Pegden that the case related to the Houses of Parliament.
Pegden told the jury: “It’s important to put out of your mind anything you might have read in the last few months about a culture in the House of Commons or Palace of Westminster in respect of assertions of sexual harassment or anything like that.
“If you have read about such a culture, spoken about by politicians or whoever, you must not hold it in any way against this defendant. That would be quite unfair and completely wrong.”
Armstrong, from Danbury, Essex, who was working as chief of staff to the South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay at the time of the incident, spoke only to confirm his name during the proceedings.
The jury was sent home for the day and the prosecution, led by Mark Heywood QC, is expected to open the case on Tuesday.