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In an exclusive episode of the Daily Mail's The Trial podcast, award-winning crime reporters Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull sit down with David Roberts, the Senior Crown Prosecutor who led the case against Russell Brand, to hear how it was built.
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Comedian turned wellness guru Russell Brand, 51, was found guilty today of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and was cleared of two further counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.
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The prosecutor met each of the six women before they gave evidence to prepare them for court, and spent more than a year piecing together the prosecution's case.
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they → meet → case
He told the podcast - brought to you by The Crime Desk - that there was a clear thread running through Brand's offending.
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Mr Roberts said: 'Our prosecution case is that he was a manipulative predator.
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None of these instances were really planned.
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He didn't plot them out.
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There was an opportunity to override these women's consent in these particular instances, and he took that as an opportunistic predator.'
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he → be → predator
In an exclusive Trial podcast, crime reporters Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull sit down with David Roberts (pictured), the Senior Crown Prosecutor who led the case against Russell Brand
Comedian turned wellness guru Russell Brand, 51, was found guilty today of rape and three counts of sexual assault
SUBSCRIBE to The Crime Desk for the Russell Brand backgrounders, plus ad-free access to all our shows
Brand was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan at his home in 2009, after meeting her at one of his shows in west London.
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He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting three other women.
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Elsewhere in the podcast, the prosecutor was asked whether 'he said, she said' cases such as Brand's are difficult for juries.
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cases → ask → juries
Mr Roberts insisted there is really no such thing, saying there is always 'surrounding material' beyond the word of the two people in the room.
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Roberts → insist → room
In Brand's case specifically, he said, prosecutors knew there would be a wealth of material in his books, stand-up shows and podcasts to support the case against him.
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'We were very aware during trial preparation that he has generated a lot of material around his whole career,' Mr Roberts said.
'His books, his stand-up shows, his podcasts.
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Roberts → generate → career
There's a specific police officer who has gone through all of that to make sure we know what's in all of them.
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what → be → them
'Additionally, there was evidence from people he knew in 1999, for example, who could give evidence about the sort of person he was and his attitudes at the time, which helped support our case.
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which → be → case
'That's how we are able a lot of times to prosecute these non-recent allegations, not by just thinking: it's a case of one word against another.'
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it → prosecute → another
Mr Roberts was hopeful that his team's diligent work in securing Brand's conviction would encourage more victims of sex crimes to come forward.
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work → secure → crimes
The Metropolitan Police has said its investigation into Brand remains ongoing
He said: 'I'd hope these sort of convictions do show that there are very good, professional, experienced, specialist police officers and prosecutors who can proceed with prosecutions against anyone, whether it's an A-list celebrity movie star like Russell Brand or anyone else on the street.
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'If anything has happened to someone else concerning Russell Brand, or as I say, indeed anyone else, we would encourage them to come forward, and their allegations will be taken as seriously as possible.'
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allegations → happen → them
The Metropolitan Police has said its investigation into Brand remains ongoing.
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investigation → say → Brand
Subscribers gain exclusive access to The Trial+, On The Case, ad-free listening and much more.
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Subscribers → gain → Case
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