The British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court repeatedly bombarded his alleged victim with calls urging her to deny the claims of sexual assault she had made against him, The Mail on Sunday understands.

Karim Khan KC, the controversial barrister bringing a war crimes case against Israel, is said to have spent more than five months pressuring and asking - sometimes multiple times in one day - his female colleague to retract serious allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

In one instance, which took place just three days before this newspaper revealed in October that he was facing the allegations, Mr Khan told the alleged victim the issue could be 'contained' to avoid a 'feeding frenzy' in the press, according to court sources.

He allegedly suggested that she write a letter disavowing her claims, which she did not do. 

Instead, it is understood that later that day she left the Netherlands and since then has not returned, fearing continued pressure from both the prosecutor and internally at the court in The Hague.