Kevin Spacey is a “sexual bully” who assaults men and does not respect personal boundaries or space, a British prosecutor has said at the start of the Oscar-winning actor’s trial on sex offence charges.

Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen allegations of historic sex offences committed against four men said to have taken place between 2001 and 2013.

Opening the prosecution case at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday, lawyer Christine Agnew told the jury Spacey was an extremely famous actor who had won a number of awards.

“He is also, the prosecution allege, a man who sexually assaults other men,” she said.

“A man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable – a sexual bully.

“His preferred method of assault is, it appears, to grab aggressively other men in the crotch.”

Spacey, who is being tried under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, watched from the dock, wearing a grey suit, a gold-coloured tie and glasses.

Slather of charges

The charges against him include repeated incidents of indecent and sexual assaults.

He is also accused of a more serious offence of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The trial is due to last about four weeks.

Spacey, who won Oscars for best actor in American Beauty (1999) and best supporting actor in The Usual Suspects (1995), spent more than a decade working in London as artistic director for the British capital’s Old Vic theatre from 2004 to 2015.

Once one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, he has largely disappeared from public view since being accused of sexual misconduct six years ago.

“It is only right that you might feel a little star-struck or overwhelmed that you are part of the jury to try such a famous person but … you must keep yourself grounded and true to the oath that you have taken,” Agnew told jurors.

-AAP