British PR guru Max Clifford to stand trial next year

British celebrity publicist Max Clifford will go on trial next year accused of indecently assaulting teenage girls over a 20-year period, a court was told today.
The 70-year-old PR guru, from Surrey near London, denies 11 counts relating to seven alleged victims aged from 14 to 19 between 1966 and 1985.
Clifford is out on bail and did not attend the hearing at the Old Bailey criminal court as the trial date was set for March 4, 2014.
He will next appear for a plea and case management hearing on October 4.
The publicist, who has become a well-known figure himself through his work to protect the image of scandal-hit celebrities in Britain's tabloid press, was first arrested in December.

He was charged in April as part of a wider investigation into historic sex offences sparked by allegations against the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, but insisted he was "totally innocent".