Russell Brand faces a lengthy custodial sentence after a jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three women. The 51-year-old comedian and actor was cleared of two counts of rape and one charge of attempted indecent assault.
Verdicts after eight and a half hours
The jury deliberated for eight and a half hours before delivering its verdicts on Thursday afternoon (November 5). Brand, known for films including Hop, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Arthur, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out. On entering the dock, he told his wife Laura Gallacher “I love you”.
During the trial, which lasted nearly four weeks, his victims described how Brand forced them into sexual activity. The court heard that he used his fame to pursue a goal of sex with 5,000 women.
Charges and sentencing
After the verdict, Mr Justice Bennathan said: “Sit down Mr Brand. Mr Winter, Ms Karmy-Jones, just on what happens next given the verdict on count six at least, obviously a custodial sentence of some length will result.” Noting that the case was “very well prepared”, the judge said the sentencing hearing would take place on Monday (November 9).
Brand claimed during the trial that he was the victim of a media conspiracy to portray him as a sexual predator, insisting that consent to him was “more important than sex itself”. Six women accused him of crimes spanning from 1999 to 2009.
Specific charges
Brand was found not guilty of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and not guilty of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.
He was found guilty of groping another MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to orally rape her in a toilet. He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a radio worker after encountering her in a corridor in 2005, guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo, and guilty of sexually assaulting a TV worker during a forced massage in 2009.
