00:00Brand's fame, it doesn't affect how we proceed in relation to, in fact, these charges, the earliest charge goes back
00:09to 1999, which is well before he was famous, really.
00:12We have then allegations going through the 2000s, where his fame was building, and up until 2009, when he was
00:20very famous.
00:22So how we're proceeding and how we are prosecuting the case isn't just based on the fact that this is
00:29a famous man who was taking advance of his position.
00:32It is the fact that throughout that period, he was, throughout that entire decade from 1999 to 2009, he was
00:40a manipulative predator who used the circumstances as they presented opportunistically to take advantage of these women.
00:48And in 1999, there was a certain set of circumstances. In 2009, when he was more famous, there was, there
00:56was potential power imbalance.
00:57So he was able to use that specific set of situation, circumstances to facilitate his assault.
01:05Six women gave evidence against Brand, while the former comedian who was once married to Katy Perry could not persuade
01:12any of his celebrity friends or former show business colleagues to give evidence in his defence.
01:17On Thursday, a jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
01:23He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.
01:30Brand displayed no emotion as he was found guilty, other than to close his eyes, when the guilty verdict on
01:36the rape charge was announced.
01:39It's not really much of our case about why people around him didn't speak out.
01:44It's not really been the focus of our case.
01:46As I say, what we're focusing on what he did in those situations, that we have obtained statements from some
01:55people who knew him,
01:55for example, around 1999, to provide some context of who he was and provide who he was, what his views
02:02of women and sex and things about nature were at the time to help support our case.
02:06But we're not, in terms of proving the allegations against him, focus on why people around him might not have
02:12spoken out against him.
02:14So our prosecution case isn't based on the people around Brand, particularly.
02:21It's based on what he did and his state of mind and whether or not he had a reasonable belief
02:28in consent at the time.
02:29We have obtained statements from some people who knew him around the time of some of this offending.
02:35So, for example, some of the people who knew him in 1999 to give a bit of background supporting information
02:41of his attitude towards women and sex and things like that.
02:46But fundamentally, our case, our prosecution case has to be focused on him to prove the allegation against him rather
02:52than surrounding information,
02:54which, if anything else, serves to distract from the central issues in the case.
02:59So, let's look at the fact that he's going to be focused on him.
