I am the victim, celeb financial guru tells sex assault trial
A celebrity financial guru who allegedly sexually abused a woman has told jurors he is the victim in the case.
Frank Cochran was adamant he was ‘telling the truth’ when prosecutor Miss Michelle Colborne QC put it to him that he was trying to ‘shift the blame’.
The celebrity financial advisor told jurors he did not carry out a string of sex offences which allegedly left his victim an ‘emotional wreck’.
Quizzing the 60 year old during her cross-examination, the prosecutor said: “Do you see yourself as a victim in this case?”
Cochran, of Marston, Church Eaton, Stafford, replied: “In some ways, yes.”
Miss Colborne went on: “This account you have given is a charade isn’t it? It’s an attempt by you to avoid the fact that you are a grade A bully.”
The defendant replied: “No, not at all.”
But the defendant, who runs Wolverhampton-based FSC Investment Services Ltd, claims the allegations have been ‘invented’ and denies two rapes and four sexual assaults.
During the trial, the court heard former BT worker Cochran had dubbed his alleged victim a ‘fantasist’.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told jurors she was left feeling humiliated after Cochran’s alleged abuse.
She said: “I was a shadow of myself. I couldn’t think, didn’t believe I was worthy or beautiful [and thought] I was a horrible person, I was frightened.”
Cochran earlier told the court he was prescribed the hormone Sustanon after undergoing gastric surgery to lose weight. Asked whether he took testosterone, he replied: “It’s the same thing.”
His defence counsel Mr Mark Heywood, QC, said: “Testosterone can increase aggression. Did it have that effect on you?”
Cochran replied that the dosage he took was too low. He said he took hormone to retain and build up muscle mass after the surgery.
Cochran is also a director of Celebrity Financial Planning Ltd and Floodlight Wealth Management Ltd. The trial continues.
