The Boy George chained-up-escort case continues, and yesterday the court were played a recording of a police interview with the singer in which he set out his side of the story, which we've not really heard properly up until now, though we knew it involved his laptop.
As previously reported, George is accused of falsely imprisoning and assaulting male escort Audun Carlsen at this Shoreditch flat in April last year.
The two men met via the website Gaydar, and met in person at George's Shoreditch home twice. George alleges that on the first occasion Carlsen hacked into his computer. It was an argument about those allegations that seemingly led to the altercation on Carlsen's second visit to the singer's flat.
In the police interview, George says he believed Carlsen had obtained naked photos of himself off the singer's laptop. He restrained Carlsen (by handcuffing him to the wall) during an argument about the computer so that he could check something out while the escort was there.
George: "I asked him to come [back to my flat] because I wanted to find out if this guy had borrowed my stuff. I had a friend present to make sure he [Carlsen] didn't try to leave while I checked the computer and his phone. He was so smug and was lying, saying it wasn't me".
Admitting he then handcuffed the escort to stop him leaving the flat while he investigated things on the computer and mobile, he continued: "He struggled a bit when I was [handcuffing him] because he realised I wasn't messing around. I didn't tell him the reason I was doing what I was doing. I said I just wanted to check something. He was saying: 'Let me go'".
George admitted that on his previous encounter with the escort he had tied him up and hit him, but said he did so with Carlsen's consent. He denied hitting Carlsen with a chain during the second visit, a claim made by the escort.
The trial continues.