Russell Brand's barrister launched a foul-mouthed attack on a journalist outside the courtroom after the disgraced comedian was found guilty of rape and sexual assault. Ian Winter KC turned on Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin, whose investigation helped bring Brand's victims forward, confronting her with the words: "I hope you are pleased with yourself."
Ms Urwin refused to back down, firing back: "I'm pleased justice has been done." Winter then snapped: "Well, it wasn't. You f***** it." "Congratulations," he added.
Courtroom exchange after verdict
The astonishing exchange came after Brand's legal team sought to blame media coverage for the case against him, with Winter arguing during the trial that reporting by Ms Urwin and others had "poisoned the well" and made it impossible for his client to receive a fair trial.
But the attempt to derail proceedings was rejected by trial judge Mr Justice Bennathan, who dismissed Brand's bid to prevent the trial from going ahead because of negative media coverage.
It can now be revealed that Brand attempted to smear journalists as "criminals" while claiming women who accused him of abuse were "fictional" in a desperate bid to avoid facing trial.
Brand's claims of media bias
The 51-year-old comedian-turned-conspiracy theorist claimed he had been "destroyed" by a "trial by media" after investigations by The Times, The Sunday Times and a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary exposed allegations against him as a sexual predator in 2023.
A number of women came forward to police after the media reports, accusing Brand of rape, sexual assault, coercive behaviour and emotional abuse. Prior to his trial, Brand tried to persuade a judge that he had been on the receiving end of a character assassination and therefore could not have a fair trial. The stand-up comedian and TV and radio host claimed he had suffered more prejudice than the likes of serial killer Rose West.
Mr Winter asked Mr Justice Bennathan to throw out rape and sexual assault charges. But the attack on award-winning journalists failed when the judge ruled that the jury could be made up of people who had not seen the 2023 media reporting.
Judge rejects claims of prejudice
The judge rejected Brand's claim that the former comedian's reputation had been "destroyed", pointing to a sell-out Wembley show he performed after being publicly accused of rape.
In a legal argument that can now be reported for the first time, Brand tried to claim that TV and newspaper journalists had deliberately plotted to get him prosecuted and, by publishing the findings of their investigation, had perverted the course of justice.
"The conduct of Channel 4, Hardcash Productions – the makers of the documentary – and the Sunday Times newspaper in publishing the anonymous allegations against the defendant was, and remains, unlawful and criminal," said Mr Winter.
"It amounted to, and continues to do so, a contempt of court and to a perversion of the course of justice."
Documentary described as fiction
During two days of pre-trial hearings in September, Mr Winter called the Dispatches documentary, Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, a "work of fiction" filled with "false allegations", highlighting that the anonymised women who had given their stories had been depicted on screen by actors.
The allegations in the documentary included rape, sexual harassment on the set of Big Brother, sexually charged comments while working for the BBC, and details of his lewd behaviour in the Noughties, including telling audiences at his stand-up shows "all sex should be a bit frightening".
Mr Winter said televised claims against Brand had been made by the "tear-stained cheeks of professional actors", instead of the women who were accusing him. He told the court: "We don't even know if these people exist."
Rounding on the reporters, Mr Winter said: "It is not the job of journalists to take the law into their own hands."
Trial and sentencing
Brand, who is facing years behind bars after being found guilty of one rape and three sexual assaults, argued during his trial that his accusers had "reimagined" sexual encounters with him.
Asked in front of the jury by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC whether he blamed the media for his downfall, Brand appeared stunned into silence before eventually replying: "In some ways."
In a statement following the verdict, a spokesman for The Times and The Sunday Times said: "Today's verdict is a testament to the courage of the women who came forward and informed The Times' and The Sunday Times' investigative reporting."
"The joint investigation with Channel 4's Dispatches was made in commitment to responsible, public interest journalism holding power and institutions to account."
Russell Brand has been told to expect a lengthy sentence after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
