Russell Brand arrived at a central London court on Monday morning accompanied by his wife Laura Gallacher and his father-in-law, Ryder Cup-winning golfer Bernard Gallacher, for the 15th day of his rape trial. The 51-year-old wore a black wool jacket over a grey suit with a long tie.
Brand denies all charges. He is accused of trying to indecently assault an MTV worker by pulling her into a toilet in 2001, forcing himself on another MTV worker in a Soho bar toilet during a party in 2004, kissing and groping a radio worker in 2005 in a corridor, and raping a woman in a hotel room at the 1999 Labour Party conference.
Barrister's Closing Speech
Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, began his closing speech to jurors by reciting an 1864 quote from philosopher John Henry Newman. Quoting it, he said: “What I insist upon here, now that I am bringing this portion of my discussion to a close, is this unmanly attempt of his, in his concluding pages, to cut the ground from under my feet…. this I call poisoning the wells.”
He said journalists had “poisoned the well of justice” in Brand's case by prompting the women to come forward. The barrister said the complainants did not make the “independent decision” to speak out.
Defence Arguments
Mr Winter told jurors: “Living a highly promiscuous life is entirely lawful however morally distasteful you may find it.” He added: “The question for you is can you possibly be sure in this case that out of the many, many women who voluntarily had sex with Mr Brand, he raped just three of them.”
Mr Winter said the 2023 allegations against Brand had had a “truly devastating effect” on him, reminding jurors of the defendant's recounting of being blocked from visiting his baby son when he was having open heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He said: “That tells you the extent to which public opinion has been perverted and corrupted.”
Of the allegations, he said that the women “think it now”, but it does not “reflect what they were actually thinking back then”. He added: “That is the precise consequence of the poisoning of the well.”
The trial continues.
