MP found not guilty of sexually assaulting women

An MP who was accused of touching the breasts of two women at London's Groucho Club has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

Patrick Spencer, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, had been accused of approaching both women, in separate incidents, and placing his hands on their breasts in August 2023.

The 38-year-old denied two counts of sexual assault and was found not guilty following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. He could be seen sobbing with relief and later hugging his wife as the verdicts were returned.

A jury of eight men and four women returned the verdict after seven hours and six minutes of deliberation.

Spencer was elected a Conservative MP in July 2024 and the party removed the whip in 2025 after he was charged with the offences, which means he now sits an Independent MP.

The trial heard how Spencer had been on a night out with friends at the Groucho Club on 12 August 2023, prior to him becoming an MP.

He told the jury he had been drunk, but not out of control and CCTV from the evening showed him staggering through the venue.

It was alleged on separate occasions he had started conversation with two women he did not know and insisted they have a drink he had bought.

The prosecution said he had then come up behind each woman and placed his hands on their breasts.

But Spencer said he could not recall the incidents and he insisted that he would not have pestered the two women to have a drink with him or asked personal questions of one about her marriage.