Clifford 'abused teenager in car'

12 March 2014 Last updated at 12:42

Max Clifford trial: Publicist 'sexually abused teen in car'

Max Clifford, pictured as he arrives at Southwark Crown Court, denies all charges

A woman has told a court that publicist Max Clifford sexually abused her in his car and said he wanted to know "what makes you tick".

The woman, who was 15 at the time, said she was a virgin and that she was "really frightened" and "very uncomfortable".

Mr Clifford, from Hersham, Surrey, faces 11 counts of indecent assault relating to seven alleged victims, aged from 14 to 19, between 1966 and 1984.

He denies all the charges against him.

A curtain was drawn across the witness box at Southwark Crown Court as the woman, a second alleged victim, was asked to recall events in the summer of 1977.

The woman, now 51, said Mr Clifford told her he had to "really get to know you, what makes you tick".

'Nervous and vulnerable'

She told the court that if she had have told her parents, it would have been "like a bomb going off" and that she thought she would have been "cast out".

Earlier, she said that Mr Clifford had persuaded her to take off her top and bra during a visit to his office.

She said she felt uncomfortable, nervous and vulnerable, and removed her bra because she could not defend herself.

The court heard that Mr Clifford made a derogatory comment about the then teenager's figure, saying she would not be able to do topless modelling.

The woman said she had been "blown away" during the visit, when Mr Clifford allegedly told her she could be the UK version of Jodie Foster.

The court heard that she had met Mr Clifford while on holiday with her parents in Torremolinos, Spain.

She said the publicist, who said he was accompanying a singer to Spain at the time, told her she was very pretty.

He told her to phone him after the holiday because there were opportunities for her.

The woman said she received a call after the holiday from a man calling himself Terry Miller, who suggested she contact Mr Clifford because he was a "mover and shaker".

Mr Miller asked her to "talk dirty" on the phone as practice for Mr Clifford, the court heard.

The woman said Mr Clifford had picked her up in a yellow Jaguar at her home.

She said her parents had been "delighted" that neighbours saw a smart car outside their house.