Brand had initially been coy and quiet in police interviews, said Furphy, but became bolder as officers continued to question him.
“As he gets used to something, he becomes more emboldened by it,” Furphy said. “You can certainly see that in his offending.”
Hundreds of people were interviewed as part of the investigation and officers said several witnesses came forward, some of whom had previously had a sexual relationship with Brand. Katy Perry, the US singer who was married to Brand from 2010 to 2012, was not interviewed.
Brand, 51, who was described in court as “ruthless” and a “sexual predator”, was once one of the UK’s most high-profile and in-demand entertainers.
Some of the women said they had been left “haunted for years” by what he did to them.
Speaking to the BBC, officers working on the three-year Metropolitan Police investigation described how bringing Brand to justice was not without its challenges.
