Russell Brand told his wife Laura Gallacher “it’ll be OK, I don’t know how, but it will” as he entered the dock at Southwark Crown Court, where he is being sentenced for rape and sexual assault. Gallacher, sitting in the public gallery, responded “oh God” and later mouthed “I love you” to her husband.
Courtroom exchange
Brand took a long look at his family and associates behind him in the public gallery before identifying himself to the court as sentencing got under way. The pair also nodded to each other as the judge outlined how the sentencing would unfold.
One member of Brand’s entourage sat holding a Bible with highlighted passages, and the phone of a woman next to Gallacher went off as the sentencing began.
Convictions and trial details
The 51-year-old former stand-up comic was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of raping a woman and sexually assaulting female TV and radio workers. A four-week trial heard how Brand preyed on women he encountered on his way to becoming one of Britain’s best-known comedians, a TV and radio host, and a Hollywood actor briefly married to singer Katy Perry.
Brand was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009 after meeting her following a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo. The woman told jurors she was a huge fan and had willingly engaged in a threesome backstage despite having a boyfriend at the time. She agreed to go to Brand’s Hampstead home for sex a few days later, but a consensual encounter turned into rape when the comedian suddenly forced her into anal sex.
Other assaults and denial
Another woman told the court her breasts were groped by Brand in the Nordic bar in Soho seconds after being introduced to him at a 2004 party. In 2005, Brand kissed and groped a third woman during a visit to Capital Radio studios in London, pouncing on her as she walked out of a room. He was also convicted of putting his head into the groin of a female Channel 4 worker after she had been forced to give him a massage in 2009.
Brand denied all charges, claiming he had only ever had consensual sex during a “promiscuous” life he insisted was packed with “idiocy” but never illegal. The sentencing continues.
