Southampton: Rolf Harris Victim Says He Has 'No Remorse'

4 August 2014, 19:17 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Rolf Harris's youngest victim has claimed the performer has "no remorse in any shape or form'' after he launched a bid to appeal against his conviction for a string of indecent assaults.

Wendy Wild from Southampton, who was groped at the age of just seven or eight when she went to get the musician's autograph in Havant in the late 1960s, said she felt as if Harris was saying "you're never going to stop me'' with his legal bid.

The 52-year-old, who has waived the usual right to anonymity, said: "I was very shocked by it and very upset. It was the last thing I imagined hearing. It really shook me up and it's really wrong of him. It shows that he's got no remorse in any shape or form.

"It just seemed like I couldn't move on from it. It's not going to go away, he's not going to give up.

"I remember as a child his eyes were very cold, I felt that again during the trial. It's almost as if he's saying 'you're never going to get to me, you're never going to stop me'.

"I almost felt like I was in the cell with him, serving time with him. The pain I felt, it was terrible.''

On Friday it was confirmed that the 84-year-old's lawyers had lodged papers at the Court of Appeal asking for permission to appeal against his conviction for 12 counts of indecent assault.

The entertainer, once a family favourite, was unmasked as a paedophile who was fixated with underage girls after his trial at Southwark Crown Court earlier this year.

He was jailed for five years and nine months for his decades preying on victims including Wendy, Australian Tonya Lee and another girl who was in her early teens, and abusing his daughter's friend for 16 years.

Ms Wild also found out last week that Harris's sentence will not be referred to appeal judges on the grounds that it was unduly lenient, which she said was "a terrible shock''.

But the 52-year-old, who contacted police after abuse claims were publicly aired against Jimmy Savile in an ITV documentary, said she has derived some comfort now that her tormentor is behind bars.

She added: "I'm better now that everyone knows, and now I can talk about it.

"When you get a situation with somebody like that you think you're the only one, but you're never going to be the only one. That's the thing that stuck in my head.''

Harris, who will serve just under three years in prison, has been spat at by another inmate at HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire, but was not hurt.

He has already been stripped of a Bafta fellowship and faces losing his prestigious CBE in the wake of his conviction, and his multi-million pound fortune is also at risk from potential compensation claims.