Tory tells court woman made up party grope claims

A former special advisor to ex defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon told jurors the budding Westminster colleague who accused him of groping her ‘has made up’ her claims. Richard Holden, 33, allegedly put his hands up the 24-year-old’s skirt and slipped his fingers between her thighs at a Christmas party at his home in December 2016. He pestered the woman throughout the evening with hugs and called her ‘beautiful’, Southwark Crown Court heard. But Holden told the court today (Weds):…