Russell Brand was a ‘sexual predator’, says prosecution as rape trial begins

On Wednesday, the jury heard details of the alleged offences.

The first complainant says she met Brand before he was famous in 1999, the jury was told.

She had attended the Labour Party conference and went to a fringe event where she spoke to Brand. He later allegedly raped her.

The prosecution said when Brand was questioned by police about this allegation of rape, “he said if it happened, he didn’t remember the incident”.

He added that he did not remember the first complainant’s name and that he “had never engaged in non-consensual activity”.

The second complainant worked for MTV at the time when she says Brand indecently assaulted her.

She said Brand asked her where the toilets were and the woman offered to show him.

When they reached the toilets, prosecutors say, Brand asked the woman to “come in” before grabbing her forearm.

She resisted by struggling and pulling back. He had what she described as a desperate, wild-eyed look on his face, as he said: “Please please come in – oh go on.”

The third complainant says Brand orally raped her in a toilet after meeting her at a party in 2004.

Within a minute of meeting, in the middle of a conversation, he lurched forward and grabbed her breasts and squeezed them with both hands, the jury was told.

The prosecution said the woman remembered he had a “big, weird grin” on his face as he did so, then grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the toilets.

The same woman said that as they were driving to another venue, Brand exposed himself, the court heard.

“He said, ‘Come on, come on, suck it’ – to which she just said, ‘No no’,” the prosecution added. “He simply laughed but appeared to accept her refusal.”