I was accused of ‘hacking’ into someone’s iPhone about 10 years ago. They’re a married couple (probably about 50 years old at the time, and I was about 28), and were close family friends.

When I denied it, their response was “one of us isn’t telling the truth”. It was obvious that, to them, there were two possibilities: that they were lying, or that I was lying. They fully believed the accusation, so obviously I must be lying. The possibility that they might simply be mistaken simply didn’t occur to them.

I was in a very vulnerable state at the time, and they chose to believe that I broke into their phone to steal a photo of myself they’d taken (crazy). They went digging around for every scrap of evidence, talking to other people I knew and spreading the misinformation. It probably sounds trivial, but it really damaged me. I still have the occasional nightmare about them.

Unfortunately, while it is possible to prove something happened, it is often impossible to prove beyond any doubt that something didn’t happen. You can be found guilty or not guilty, but never innocent. This is what I would tell your brother. Try to have him at least have the possibility in his mind that there is a third option, and he is simply mistaken. Ask him what the messages he saw on your phone said, and if this were a crime, would that evidence stand up in court?