Russell Brand has arrived at Southwark Crown Court for the sixth day of his trial, where a third complainant is expected to give evidence. The 51-year-old former comedian arrived just after 9.30am, accompanied by his wife Laura Gallacher, 38.
Brand denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six different women. The charges span 10 years of his showbiz career. He has attended court in person for each day of the trial, sometimes with his wife, and members of his entourage have reportedly been sitting in the court galleries.
Woman's Evidence from Behind a Screen
The court has previously heard from a woman who alleges she was indecently assaulted. She told the court last week that she had complimented Brand's "I am Spartacus" T-shirt before showing him where the toilets were at an MTV site. She said: "This person went from someone quite jovial and friendly to suddenly turning into this wild-eyed maniac trying to pull me into the toilets."
She described how Brand grabbed her by the arm and said, "Come on, come in with me", and that she tried to pull herself away, asking, "What are you doing? Are you mad? Let me go." The incident lasted about 20 seconds. She said she felt "bewildered, confused, what the hell happened there" afterwards. The woman, who gave evidence from behind a screen, said she reported the incident to colleagues, who told her, "Well, he's crazy," but she never reported it to bosses.
Woman Came Forward After Dispatches Documentary
The woman said she did not report the incident at the time because she was scared. She said: "I got away, I thought it would be my word against him. He was a big asset to MTV." She went to police in 2023 after watching a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary about Brand, saying, "It came back to me and I thought, 'This is not just me'."
Brand's lawyer Ian Winter KC challenged her account, suggesting she only came forward after watching the TV show and that Brand had sought a consensual encounter. She replied: "I don't think it's quite as straight-forward as that. I came away relatively unscathed. He didn't manage to rape me." She added: "No, not really, because you don't drag someone by the arm. His eyes were wild. When I showed him where the toilet was his demeanour changed."
Witness Accounts from the Labour Party Conference
The court also heard from Brand's former flatmate Andrew Dobson, who said the ex-comic, accused of raping a woman after a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in 1999, had a huge preoccupation with sex. Dobson composed music for a show and Brand was in the fringe Soapbox Cabaret at the Bournemouth conference. He recalled that Brand did not return to the guesthouse after the final night, saying: "We saw Russell the next morning. Russell came in and there was suddenly an emergency that we had to leave."
A statement was also read from a journalist contacted by the woman after the screening of the C4 show in 2023. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police: "She told me she had seen the news coverage and that she was raped by Russell Brand. I was extremely shocked." John Rogers, who was at the conference with Brand, said the presenter told him about an intimate encounter he had with a woman at the event. Rogers said: "He had met up with one of them and they had some form of encounter in a hotel room. It stuck in my mind because I just thought it was a really weird thing to happen."
The trial continues.
