Brand, 51, is accused of being a “ruthless predator” who used women to satisfy his “huge sexual appetite”, and attacked those who tried to resist his advances.
asserted
who → accuse → advances
Prosecutors say Brand used comedy and charm in pursuit of an aim to sleep with 5,000 women, and had a “child-like expectation that his every desire should be met”.
asserted
desire → say → expectation
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told jurors the woman initially thought Brand was gay, and invited him to her hotel room to continue their conversation.
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Brand → tell → conversation
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She says he emerged topless from the toilet and “was prancing around the room, a bit like an ostrich, doing silly walks like Basil Fawlty”.
asserted
he → read → Fawlty
The prosecutor said: “She was taken aback, she was shocked and she didn’t really know what to do – and in her words she froze a bit.
“She asked him why he had taken his clothes off, and he said something along the lines of ‘It’s OK, it’s just how I am, don’t worry….
asserted
I → say → lines
I’m mostly naked at home’.”
asserted
I → ’m → home
The woman said she found Brand “polite, courteous and complimentary about her” when they had first met after the show, describing him as having a “gentlemanly way”.
asserted
they → say → way
“She assumed he was gay, he gave no indication of being attracted to her,” said Ms Karmy-Jones, who told the jury Brand would try to make women laugh and show interest in their causes in his pursuit of sex.
asserted
women → assume → sex
“Above all, she was excited by the fact that she could have such an intelligent conversation with a man, a man who was displaying an interest in what she had to say.”
uncertain
she → excite → what
Later in the hotel room, the woman says she took photographs of a topless Brand at his request, before he “pushed her onto the bed”.
asserted
he → say → bed
“She remembers the weight of him on top of her, she couldn’t move, and was finding it hard to breathe, but recalls trying not to let him kiss her, and saying ‘no’.”
asserted
him → remember → her
The prosecutor said the woman recalled Brand’s tongue feeling “like a lizard” as he raped her.
asserted
he → say → her
Afterwards, she says Brand “behaved as if nothing had happened” and suggested that his mother would like to meet her.
uncertain
mother → say → her
Brand’s flatmate at the time, Mark Pinheiro, says Brand was “desperate” to have sex as they headed to the Labour Party conference in 1999, jurors heard.
asserted
jurors → say → 1999
“He found a victim, engaged with her, told her ‘exactly what she needed to hear’, and then manipulated the situation so as to have sex with her”, said Ms Karmy-Jones.
asserted
Jones → find → her
The court heard Mr Pinheiro claims Brand had called himself “a ladies’ man” and an “expert pick-up artist” as they headed to the conference, and said he “wanted to bed 5,000 women in his lifetime”.
uncertain
he → hear → lifetime
The court heard Mr Pinheiro says Brand returned to their flat after allegedly raping the woman, telling them to “pack up their stuff” because they “had to leave town immediately”.
uncertain
they → hear → town
Ms Karmy-Jones said: “Once in the car, the defendant behaved oddly, shrinking down in the back seat to hide his head beneath the window.
“When pressed about where he had been the night before, and why they had to leave so abruptly, he said he had forgotten he had an audition.”
Brand is charged with seven alleged offences – three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault.
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Brand → say → assault
He denies all the charges.
asserted
He → deny → charges
Prosecutors say the comedian-turned-podcaster had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sex, and would use his humour and charm on women that he encountered.
asserted
he → say → that
He had a “child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met”, said Ms Karmy-Jones, who dubbed him a “ruthless, calculated, and manipulative” sexual predator.
asserted
who → have → him
The prosecutor said she had complimented his “I Am Spartacus” t-shirt in the moments before the alleged incident in 2001.
asserted
I → say → 2001
Ms Karmy-Jones said the women came forward to police after seeing media reports about Brand.
Brand, when questioned by police, gave prepared statements and insisted that all sexual contact with women had been consensual.
The Essex-born comedian was once a fixture in the British media, presenting on Channel 4 and fronting his own BBC Radio 2 show.
asserted
comedian → say → show
He presented the Brit Awards, Comic Relief and the MTV Music Video Awards, and also took on starring roles in Hollywood films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rock Of Ages, and Arthur.
asserted
He → present → Ages
Brand, who has become a podcaster in recent years, now lives in Florida in the US and was accompanied to court by his wife Laura Gallacher.
asserted
who → become → wife
The trial continues.
asserted
trial → continue → ?
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