Alleged rapist joked “no means yes”

Wednesday 10 April 2019

A man accused of raping and sexually assaulting a hotel guest has admitted that he had a running joke with his friend that “no means yes and yes means no”.

Despite admitting joking about consent, Brett Kean (41) insisted that all the sexual contact he had with his alleged victim - Miss X - at the Sandranne Hotel in 2016 was “consensual” as he took to the stand to protest his innocence on the third day of a Royal Court trial against him.

The revelation about his running joke came amid grilling by his lawyer, Advocate Francesca Pinel, about things he said that were secretly recorded by Miss X.

Pictured: The incident is alleged to have taken place at the Sandranne Hotel in 2016.

“We used to say no means yes and yes means no,” Mr Kean told the jury of seven men and five women, adding that it “wasn’t funny” if taken too far before mentioning some “girls” he knew who liked this approach.

“It was a way of them enjoying it… playing on the… dangerous side of having sex." 

During his testimony, Mr Kean told the Court that he was born with brain damage and he has suffered with epilepsy which means he finds it hard to communicate and make himself understood.

Mr Kean’s difficulties are such that he is accompanied in Court by an intermediary. This person’s role is to ensure that Mr Kean understands everything that is being said in Court and that he is making himself understood whilst on the stand.

This intermediary can intervene if Mr Kean is having difficulty understanding or if he needs a break.

It’s not in dispute that the pair did have consensual sex a few days prior to the alleged assaults whilst they were both guests in the hotel, but the alleged victim claims that on the second occasion she and the defendant were alone together he raped and sexually assaulted her.

Mr Kean denies all the charges brought against him.

Elsewhere in his testimony, Mr Kean talked about why he was contacting the woman and why he wanted to see her again after the first encounter they had at the hotel. 

“She’s a nice girl, she’s a pretty girl. She tasted nice, not in a sick way. She had a nice scent, she smelled nice. She had a soft touch about her,” he explained. 

Pictured: The trial of Brett Keen is taking place in the Royal Court.

He explained that the woman “had [him] by the balls” and that if he did anything wrong, it was being “over anxious” to get in touch with her.

“Do me for harassment,” Mr Kean suggested, “If I’m going to get done for anything it’s phone text harassment… I was drunk and impatient.”

The woman said that on the day of the alleged assault, she had spent 36 minutes on the phone trying to convince the accused to delete her number from his phone, before agreeing to meet him to do it herself.

However, Mr Kean claimed that the pair had spoken on the phone where she was saying she “need[ed] to talk to [him] face to face”, but she wouldn’t tell him what about.

Pictured: The alleged victim says the sexual assaults and rape took place in her hotel room.

“She was trying to convince me to come round,” he explained, but that he “was trying to end it” as he was patching things up with his ex-partner.

Mr Kean said that they went up to her room where they argued, talked and eventually started being intimate. At first, Mr Kean said that he had lay down on the bed and the woman had said “we’re not having sex".

Later, however, he told the Court that the woman proceeded to get changed in front of him, which he found “confusing".

“She didn’t want to have sex and then she’d got changed in front of me,” Mr Kean told the Court, describing himself as “confused” and “shell-shocked” by her when he was “sat up on the bed wondering whether or not I should touch her.”

Mr Kean said he began “massaging her leg”, which progressed into further intimate contact, but he couldn’t sustain an erection so they didn’t have sex.

When asked by his lawyer whether he did anything to the woman that night that she didn’t want, Mr Kean said he didn’t, adding: “If at any point a female says stop, you stop." 

Mr Kean is due to be cross-examined on his evidence by Crown Advocate David Steenson – appearing for the prosecution – this afternoon.

The trial continues.

Catch up on the case...

Alleged rape victim secretly recorded conversations with accused

Alleged rapist 'made "disgusting" comments after attack'

Rape accused claims alleged victim 'sent mixed messages'