Patrick Spencer found not guilty of Groucho Club sexual assaults

Patrick Spencer was found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault involving incidents at London’s Groucho Club, after a jury deliberated for just over seven hours. The 38-year-old Conservative MP, elected in 2024 for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, was seen on camera in August 2023 coming up behind two women at the private members’ club and placing his arms around them. Prosecutors alleged he “cupped” the breasts of both women and then gestured toward friends nearby; during police questioning, Spencer apologized for grabbing from behind and said it was “not acceptable in this day and age,” while denying the key allegations in court. Spencer testified that contact with one woman’s chest was not something he touched intentionally and that contact with the other was accidental, describing his reaction as “mortified.” After the verdict at Southwark Crown Court, he broke down in tears and embraced his wife. The article states the events occurred Aug. 12, 2023, before he was elected to Parliament.