Russell Brand's father has described his son, jailed for rape and sexual assault, as the "victim" in remarks made outside court shortly after the sentencing.
Brand, 51, was sentenced to 10 and a half years at Southwark Crown Court on Monday after a jury found him guilty last week of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. During the hearing, Mr Justice Bennathan criticised Brand's "staggering arrogance" and said he had used his celebrity status to prey on women.
Father's remarks outside court
Ron Brand, who attended court regularly throughout the four-week trial, was asked as he left court on Monday whether he had a message for the victims. He replied: "The victim? What, Russell?"
When a reporter clarified that the question referred to Brand's victims, Ron responded: "The girls you mean, who chased him and harassed him - is that what you mean?" After being reminded that Brand had been convicted, Ron said: "I don't care." He added that he does not believe in the justice system "on the basis of what I just watched".
Convictions and acquittals
On Thursday, the jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault after deliberating for eight and a half hours. He was cleared of two further counts of rape and one charge of attempted indecent assault.
Brand raped a 21-year-old woman he met at a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009. He kissed and groped a Capital Radio worker after encountering her in a corridor in 2005. He sexually assaulted a Channel 4 worker who was forced to give him a massage in 2009, and groped an MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004.
Brand was acquitted of raping the MTV worker in a toilet during the same incident. The jury also cleared him of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and found him not guilty of attempting to drag another MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.
