A young parliamentary worker was left "distraught" after being allegedly groped by ex-Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, a court has heard.
The married 49-year-old father of two denies three counts of sexual assault.
Two counts involve the parliamentary worker in 2016 and one involving another woman in 2007 at his London home.
A man who worked on the parliamentary estate at the time told Southwark Crown Court that the woman told him about the alleged assaults, while they discussed the matters in the Sports and Social Bar in the Palace of Westminster.
He said she told him that Elphicke had “tried to touch her breast” and on another occasion had “put his hand on her thigh”.
The man was asked about the alleged victim’s demeanour when she was telling him about what had happened.
“Broken, to be honest,” he said, adding: “She was completely exhausted clearly by the whole thing.
“She just felt completely finished by it all frankly.”
The man described the woman as being “quite tearful, quite upset”.
Another parliamentary worker, who worked in Westminster at the time, said the alleged victim had confided in her.
“She said that Charlie had acted inappropriately,” she told the court, adding: “She said he groped her.”
The woman said the alleged victim was “very nervous” about telling anyone what had happened.
“She was so distraught,” the woman told the court.
She also said that in texts the alleged victim said: “It’s a dirty game here.”
Earlier, a statement from a close friend of the parliamentary worker was read to the court.
The friend said Elphicke had taken the alleged victim out for dinner and drinks and “offered her very nice wine from his wine cellar”.
She informed the friend that the ex-MP could be “handsy”, the court heard.
The woman had once contacted the friend in the evening asking him to pick her up, he said, and was “visibly distressed” when he arrived.
The friend said: “She told me Charlie had made an advance on her and my understanding was that was a sexual advance.”
On Tuesday morning, the judge presiding over the trial told the jury she should not have said “well done” when one of Elphicke’s alleged victims finished giving evidence on Monday.
Judge Philippa Whipple told the jury they should “disregard” what she said, adding: “I didn’t intend to convey any view at all.”
Elphicke was Dover MP from 2010 until 2019, when he stood down.
He was succeeded by his wife, who has accompanied him to court throughout the trial.
The trial continues.
