Max Clifford 'grabbed teenage model'

18 March 2014 Last updated at 15:59

Max Clifford 'told model he had slept with Diana Ross'

Max Clifford denies 11 counts of indecent assault

Max Clifford groped a teenage model and told her he had slept with singer Diana Ross, a London court has heard.

A 48-year-old woman who cannot be named said she went to see the celebrity publicist for career advice in 1983.

He also told her she could get a part in a James Bond film, the woman said.

Mr Clifford, 70, from Hersham, Surrey, denies 11 counts of indecent assault relating to seven alleged victims, aged from 14 to 19, between 1966 and 1984.

'Model ambitions'

The woman told Southwark Crown Court she was 17 at the time of the alleged incident.

She said Mr Clifford told her he made people's careers and had slept with singer Diana Ross.

"For me, Diana Ross was a very beautiful, famous woman, I couldn't imagine why she would sleep with him," the woman said.

Mr Clifford told the teenager she needed to get some publicity, and that it was very important she was seen with the right person, she said.

"I thought, this is not what I want to be involved in, I couldn't think of anything worse than being in the papers, or being on TV - I wanted to be a fashion model."

Mr Clifford told her he wanted to see her figure and to take her dress off, she said.

'Totally in shock'

She said she reluctantly agreed and that Mr Clifford was "overcome", saying he was "absolutely riveted" by tights she wore.

The woman told the court Mr Clifford groped her chest area and arms, and said: "At this point I'm feeling utterly stupid, totally in shock, I'm just not doing anything."

He also told her she could get a part in a James Bond film but might have to sleep with that film's producer, the court heard.

The woman said she returned to her hotel and told staff not to put through Mr Clifford's calls as he rang "relentlessly".

She said she confided in her sister and some friends, and contacted police when she saw Mr Clifford had been arrested.

When defence barrister Richard Horwell QC suggested to the woman she had made up the incident, she replied: "Absolutely not."

Asked by Rosina Cottage QC, prosecuting, whether she had lied, she said: "Oh no, it's crystal clear."

Later, another woman gave evidence, saying Mr Clifford had sexually abused her in 1983 when she was 12.

The woman, who cannot be named, told the court the incident happened at a Spanish holiday resort.