London: Rolf Harris faces a new trial on four charges of indecent assault, after a jury last week failed to reach verdicts.
However his legal team revealed that before the new trial begins, they intend to appeal against previous sex assault convictions from his 2014 trial – which were relied on in the latest trial to show Harris had a "predilection" for groping women.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday they will continue to press three of the four charges the jury were undecided on last week - of groping a 14-year-old at a music festival in 1971, a 16-year-old at a celebrity game show in Cambridge in 1978, and a 13-year-old at a BBC TV show in 1983.
They also added a new charge - that he had groped the 16-year-old a second time in 1978. Evidence on this had been presented to the jury during the first trial but had not been the subject of a charge.
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker told Southwark Crown Court that prosecutors had decided it was in the interests of justice to pursue the extra indecent assault charge. During the trial the jury had asked whether they could find Harris guilty on the basis of that incident.
Defence barrister Stephen Vullo QC said he couldn't see a "sensible objection", and Judge Alistair McCreath said it would be fair that Harris got an adjudication on the accusation against him.
Harris pleaded not guilty to the new charge, over video link from Stafford prison.
Last week a jury found Harris not guilty of two indecent assault charges, and one sexual assault charge, after a five-week trial.
However they were unable to reach a verdict on the four remaining indecent assault charges.
Prosecutors decided not to press for a new trial on one charge of groping an 18-year-old at a band rehearsal in 2002. It is expected that a not guilty verdict on this count will be made official during the retrial.
The new trial is expected to begin in May, Southwark Crown Court was told.
Mr Vullo said Harris' legal team were also in the process of lodging an appeal against his 2014 convictions. In 2014 he was found guilty of 12 indecent assaults against four women.
Mr Vullo did not specify which of the convictions would be appealed against. He said he was aware the attempt to appeal was "significantly out of time" - years later than the usual deadline.
However he said "there are reasons for it".
Judge McCreath remanded Harris in custody until the new trial, set for May 15.
According to legal guidance published on the Crown Prosecution Service website, there is a presumption that the prosecution will seek a retrial when a jury fails to reach a verdict.
However prosecutors weigh factors such as whether there is still a realistic prospect of a conviction, and whether witnesses will be willing to give evidence again.
They consult the alleged victims, and also the police who investigated the case.
They also consider whether there is public interest in a retrial, considering the seriousness of the offences, the length of time since they were alleged to have been committed, and the length of the likely sentence if Harris ends up being convicted.
The CPS has a recent – though unsuccessful - history of a retrial in a similar case.
Former BBC radio DJ Dave Lee Travis faced a retrial in 2014 on two charges, of indecent assault and sexual assault, after he was cleared of 12 counts of indecent assault earlier in the year.
Jurors in that trial had been unable to reach verdicts on the two charges.
Police added a fresh count of indecent assault to the list.
A furious Travis gave a nine-minute statement to the media outside the court after hearing of the retrial, accusing the Crown Prosecution Service of "over-compensating" for the Jimmy Savile scandal, and lamenting the "irreparable" damage to his reputation.
In the new trial he was found guilty on the fresh charge, of groping a TV researcher in 1995.
However he was not found guilty on either of the retried charges – on one the new jury found him not guilty, and on the other they did not reach a verdict, and the CPS announced it would not pursue yet another retrial.
