Former Waddon councillor and celebrity spiritual healer Graham Dare ordered a woman needing help with migraines to strip naked and fondled her on three occasions, a court has heard.

Mr Dare, 57, who was a Conservative councillor in Waddon between 1998 and 2002 before defecting to the Liberal Democrats, was in Blackfriars Crown Court on Thursday, December 1 accused of three counts of sexual assault.

He pleads not guilty.

Boasting a list of celebrity clients including Eastenders star Tamzin Outhwaite and TV presenter's Melinda Messenger, Kate Thornton and Michaela Strachan, Dare, of Taymount Rise, Forest Hill is said to have committed the offences against a 31-year-old Japanese student in September last year.

Prosecutor Heather Stangoe told the court the abuse happened at a fourth appointment on September 14, 2010.

She said: "He asked her to take off all of her clothes and although thinking this was unusual she thought it must have been part of the treatment.

"He said the clothes were getting in the way of spiritual healing and she agreed to take hers off, including her underwear, and lie down covered in a towel.

"The defendant's hands moved towards her crotch and he touched her pubic bone and the outer lips of her vagina, which he told her was necessary to connect with energy levels flowing from her spine.”

Despite her discomfort she believed the process was genuine and booked a second and third treatment, and each time was fondled by Mr Dare, the court heard.

He even convinced her to touch him, causing him to ejaculate, the victim believes.

Miss Stangoe said: “This was no genuine treatment, this defendant was sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman while continuing to claim he was a genuine practitioner.

"He said she would have to take her bra off because it was interfering with her spine and said he would have to use his mouth on her.

"He said the mouth was a sensitive organ and ten times more effective in treatment and began to put his lips on her hands, arms, legs and abdomen while making a funny noise the complainant thought was all part of the healing process.

"This lasted thirty minutes and by now she was extremely anxious to put her clothes back on, but the defendant told her it was her turn to perform healing on him.

"The defendant took all his clothes off, wrapped a towel around his hips, and asked this young lady to touch him on the body and she placed her hands on his arms and abdomen.

"She began to notice his abdomen area was heaving, but remained convinced the treatment, although unusual, was genuine.

"However, she saw something on his inner thigh that she believed was semen and became terrified and wanted to get out of that clinic as soon as possible."

When questioned by officers Dare, who has been a spiritualist for more than 10 years and runs Sensitives Clinic in Farringdon for over a decade, insisted there was no abuse.

On his website, Dare, who contested the 2005 general election in Croydon South standing as a Veritas candidate winning 497 votes, claims heat permanently radiates from his hands and his healing energy has cured patients, where conventional medical therapy has failed.

He says he has communicated with the spirit of the Princess of Wales and also offers contact with the deceased and tarot and palm readings and hires himself out for stag and hen nights as well as other parties and promotions.

The hearing continues.