Disgraced showman Rolf Harris has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail for sexually abusing four young girls over a period of almost 20 years.
The veteran entertainer returned to London’s Southwark Crown Court to learn his fate, after a unanimous jury convicted him earlier this week on all 12 counts of indecent assault committed on girls as young as 7 between 1968 and 1986.
Harris will serve half of his sentenced jail time and be released on licence. As he left the court, accompanied by two guards, Harris showed no reaction.
Upon handing down the sentence, Justice Nigel Sweeney said Harris’ reputation lies in ruins but he has no one to blame but himself.
“You took advantage of the trust placed in you because of your celebrity status,” Justice Sweeney said.
Dressed in a grey suit and colourful striped tie, 84-year-old Harris arrived in a chauffeur-driven car. He had earlier left his riverside house in Bray by boat to avoid waiting photographers.
He was joined by his daughter Bindi and niece Jenny. His elderly wife Alwen, 82, who has supported her husband throughout his trial, was not with him in court.
Before his sentencing the court heard Victim Impact Statements written by the four women Harris abused, including his daughter Bindi’s childhood friend.
She said his attacks left her feeling “dirty, grubby and disgusting”.
“The whole sordid saga has traumatised me,” she said.
“As a young girl I had aspirations to have a career, settle down and have a family.
“However, as a direct result of his actions, this has never materialised.
“The knowledge of what he had done to me haunted me. However, his popularity with the British public made it harder for me to deal with.”
“Rolf Harris had a hold over me that made me a quivering wreck.”
Before his sentence was handed down the defence asked the judge to consider Harris’ age and health.
“As a man of 84 as he is he is already on borrowed time,” Harris’ barrister Sonia Woodley said. “Every day, every month, in prison is going to shorten his life.”
“A sentence has to be adapted for a person who appears before a court.”
His legal team added that Harris had been his wife’s primary carer for numerous years and his imprisionment would impact her greatly.
Following his sentencing, Harris was taken to Wandsworth Prison, one of the largest jails in Western Europe, but will be transferred to a lower security facility at a later date.
Harris has spent the past 60 years living in the UK and shot to fame with his signature instrument, a wobbleboard, and his 1960s hit Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport.
As one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers, he later went on to perform at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012 and painted a portrait of Her Majesty on her 80th birthday in 2006.
Woman’s Day understands Harris spent his last day as a free man sorting out financial matters with his lawyers.
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