Roy Harper, 73, a folk rock musician has gone on trial accused of sex offences against a girl aged 11.
It was heard at Worcester Crown Court that he abused the youngster in the mid-1970s and indecently assaulted a girl aged 16 in 1980.
Anthony Potter, prosecuting, told jurors that several of the offences against the younger victim were alleged to have occurred at the singers then home near Marden, Hertfordshire.
The alleged victim told the policewoman who conducted the interview, how her life has been affected, she replied: “I think about it daily. I drink far too much to get to sleep – just to forget about it.” The court was told she has also attempted suicide twice.
Explaining that the girl, now in her late 40s, recalled Mr Harper having famous guests, Mr Potter told jurors: “He is a man of some undoubted musical ability and it is a matter of that he enjoyed a degree of fame in the 1970s.”
The court heard that complaints were made to police in 2012 and 2013 about Harper, who denied that anything improper had happened with either complainant.
The trial, which is expected to last 2 weeks, continues.
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