A private ambulance has been seen outside the British home of disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris, amid reports he is “very sick and unwell”.
The sighting came amid reports the convicted sex offender and former TV star and musician has been struggling to talk and eat.
Late in 2022, it was reported that 93-year-old Harris was extremely unwell and is very hard to understand. He has been ill with neck cancer since being released from prison in 2017 after being found not guilty on four indecent assault charges.
This week, there were multiple reports in the British media that a private ambulance was seen outside Harris’ $9 million riverside home in Berkshire, west of London, on Wednesday (local time).
The Australian-born former star lives with his 91-year-old wife Alwen, who has Alzheimer’s disease. The couple need round the clock care.
Harris’ daughter and son-in-law have refused to comment on his or his wife’s health.
Last year, however, neighbour Portia Wooderson told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph: “Only carers and nurses, who care for him 24 hours, come and go. I’m told he can’t eat anymore.”
This week’s reports come amid claims Harris warned his daughter’s friend who he was abusing to “tread carefully” because he was powerful and had money, according to a new British documentary.
Harris was a family favourite in Britain for decades before he was convicted in June 2014 of 12 indecent assaults, including a catalogue of abuse against his daughter’s friend over 16 years.
The victim has given permission for the impact of her abuse to be told through her psychotherapist Chip Somers in new ITVX series Rolf Harris: Hiding In Plain Sight. It documents the rise and fall of the TV host, entertainer and artist.
The two-part documentary will hear how the woman told Mr Somers she had been abused by Harris for several years from the age of 13.
As her relationship with Harris became more intimate, Mr Somers said Harris was clear in his message to the girl: “She is also quite clearly told, ‘This is something that you cannot talk about. Do not tell anybody about this. This is our little secret. I am a powerful person, I have money, so tread carefully’.”
The program will also feature alleged victims Suzi Dent and Karen Gardner, who waived their right to anonymity.
In the first episode, Australian makeup artist Dent alleges Harris sexually assaulted her when she was 23 and working on a program he appeared on in 1985.
Ms Gardner alleges she was assaulted three times in plain sight within 35 minutes at the age of 16, when she was carrying Harris’ bag on the set of Star Games in Cambridge in 1978.
Perth-born Harris was acquitted of assaulting Ms Gardner after the jury could not reach a verdict at two trials. Dent’s allegations of assault were not tried in court because they occurred outside the UK.
Harris was convicted at London’s Southwark Crown Court in June 2014 of 12 indecent assaults.
Following his conviction, Harris was stripped of his CBE, which he received after painting the late Queen’s 80th birthday portrait.
In May 2017 he was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied. He has been seen in public only rarely since.
Later the same year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
-with AAP
