Russell Brand told police he never had non-consensual sex

Brand went on to say the allegations were made in "a defamatory and fictitious documentary", which he said contained "false and anonymised" interviews.

He added that "subsequently both the media and the police publicly invited additional allegations to be made, which has resulted in further encounters to be invented or reimagined".

In court on Tuesday, the jury was also asked formally to find Brand not guilty of a charge of indecent assault.

The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, said there was "insufficient evidence to support the charge of indecent assault".

This charge related to a woman who said Brand grabbed her arm and tried to drag her into a toilet in 2001 when she worked at MTV.