A City pension fund executive has confessed to being “disgusted and mortified” by CCTV images, which show his hand up the skirt of a drunken female financier near the Bank of England.
Craig Brown, 61, had met the experienced professional at a casual business lunch that day and told a jury she consented to sexual activity in a covered walkway near the entrance to Bank Underground Station.
Grammar school-educated Brown was the director of a company based in the heart of the Square Mile is also the former Head of Global Consultant Relations for industry giants Legal & General.
“I watch the video and being in that situation was very embarrassing. I should not have been there or in that situation,” he told Inner London Crown Court. “Obviously we were doing something we shouldn’t be doing in a public place.”
Brown, who lives in a £1.5m house in the Surrey commuter belt in Harestone Hill, Caterham has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexually assaulting the woman by penetration on July 21, 2021.
“I was flattered, slightly surprised and enjoying the moment. I was single again and it was fun,” father-of-two Brown told the trial. “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.”
Prosecutor Valeria Swift told the jury the married mother was “semi conscious” and far too drunk to consent, with an alcohol reading equivalent to four times the drink-drive limit and no memory of events after 7.00pm.
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.’
“The complainant was consenting and capable of consenting that night,” answered Brown to questions from his lawyer Eleanor Laws KC. “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 sexual activity was interrupted by the cricket group, recalled Brown. “I heard a noise and heard one of the witness’s saying: ‘What are you doing?’ and coming over and confronting me and pushing me away.
“They asked me what I was doing and why I was doing it. The men were quite aggressive.
“I understand now what they thought they had seen. We were doing something we shouldn’t have been doing.
“They were talking at once, it was quite bewildering and frightening. I could not believe what was happening, I had never been in such a traumatic situation in my life.
“They were holding me and stopping me. I wanted away from these guys.”
The woman suffered two seizures and was taken to hospital in an ambulance and police arrested Brown, who spent a sleepless evening on a concrete cell floor before questioning the next day.
“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.”
Ms Swift told the jury: “CCTV in the lift shows Mr Brown putting his hand on her waist and the woman smiling and laughing and it would seem she was happy and comfortable in his company.
“CCTV also shows a porter help her steady herself as she leaves the bar as she seemed unstable and by 9.20pm she looked decidedly drunk,” explained the prosecutor.
“They are again picked up on CCTV on a walkway near Bank Underground Station and this defendant kissed her and you can see her smiling, but you may conclude she was very drunk indeed.
“She was swaying as she was walking and the CCTV shows her slump to the ground.
“The defendant started to stroke her legs and her head was slumped down completely.
“A group of friends who had just attended the cricket were passing and some of them saw kissing and others saw Mr Brown ‘fingering’ the woman.
“Perhaps they were taken aback by this happening in a public place, but what struck all of the group was the state the complainant was in.
“They variously describe her as ‘limp’ and ‘semi-conscious’ and not aware of what was happening.
“By this time she was unresponsive, but there were small movements of her leg, indicating she was not totally unconscious, but in a drunken stupor.
“The group approached to confront the defendant because they came to the conclusion that what they saw was ‘not on’ and there was ‘something off’ about it.
“They felt the defendant was taking advantage of a severely drunken semi-conscious woman.
“As the group approached, this defendant moved and the woman completely slumped down,” explained the prosecutor.
“She was in such a drunken stupor she did not have the capacity to consent to sexual activity.
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.”
Trial continues…………
