Craig Brown, 62, has always admitted to the embarrassing incident in the heart of the Square Mile, but insisted the woman was consensual and this week a jury agreed.
His four-year ordeal finally ended with a not guilty verdict at Inner London Crown Court after a retrial on a charge of sexually assaulting the complainant by penetration.
The first trial heard the woman, who had been drinking all day, was the equivalent of four times the drink-drive limit and had no memory of the incident or the hours before it.
Grammar school-educated Brown, who lives in a £1.5m house in the Surrey commuter belt in Harestone Hill, Caterham, was the director of a company based in the City of London.
He told jurors he was “disgusted and mortified” by the CCTV images, which show his hand up the skirt of the woman under a covered walkway, near the Bank of England.
Motherwell-born Brown had met the experienced professional at a casual business lunch on July 21, 2021 and they continued drinking into the evening.
“I watch the video and being in that situation was very embarrassing. I should not have been there or in that situation,” he told the trial. “Obviously we were doing something we shouldn’t be doing in a public place.”
He graduated from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University with a degree in Maths & Statistics and had separated from his wife of sixteen-years a few months before the incident.
“I was flattered, slightly surprised and enjoying the moment. I was single again and it was fun,” father-of-two Brown said. “We continued to kiss each others’ face and neck and I like massaging legs, it is something I do.”
The jury watched CCTV of the woman sitting on the ground with a kneeling or crouching Brown running his hands up and down her legs and feet in the public area at approximately 9.30pm.
“She was giggling and enjoying the relaxation,” recalled Brown. “I massaged closer to the top of her thighs, becoming more sexual and I moved my hand up further.”
He admitted placing his hand between her legs and underneath the white lacy thong she was wearing. “It was initially stroking and then rubbing and she was clearly enjoying it. She was laughing and smiling and making murmurs of pleasure.”
However, the prosecution argued the compliant was too drunk to consent, but this was rejected by the jury’s verdict.
A group of friends, who had been attending a cricket match, stepped in and interrupted the couple, with the complainant assuring them: “He’s a good guy.”
Brown always maintained the activity was reciprocal and told the trial: “The complainant was consenting and capable of consenting that night.
“I thought she was good fun with an interesting and vibrant personality and we got on well.”
He told the court he intended to get the train home until the woman suggested continuing to drink. “It was two days after the Covid lockdown and we were pleased to be out.”
Brown had joined a lunch the complainant was enjoying with a City financial consultant at Cabotte French restaurant earlier in the day and after that man left they continued drinking at two other bars.
“We were kissing and cuddling in the bar and we were both being foolish, kissing and touching in the lift. We were laughing and joking, two people fairly drunk in London on a Summer’s night.
“We left the bar and I went to Tesco. It was a foolish decision, a bad drunken decision, but she suggested having more wine where we were sitting.”
The cricket group alerted police and Brown found himself arrested and placed into a cell for the evening.
“I was disgusted, bewildered, ashamed of everything that happened that previous night. I was very stressed and feeling terrible that I had got myself into that situation,” he told the court.
CCTV showed the pair enjoying their evening together, with the complainant smiling and exchanging moments of affection with Brown.
Nine days later the woman gave a video-recorded interview to police, confirming she had been drinking wine that day and was introduced to Brown.
“He seemed a pleasant guy and he knew his stuff and was very well-versed in the industry,” she recalled.
“I do not remember leaving the pub with him. It is a complete blank.
“I vaguely remember shouting, but don’t know how that related to what happened.
“I don’t know if I was attacked, I have no recollection. I have no recollection until the police and paramedics.”
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