Two Cabinet ministers have condemned the barrister who defended Russell Brand, suggesting his comments in court could discourage rape victims from coming forward to police.
Ian Winter KC faced a growing backlash after he argued for a lesser sentence for the disgraced comedian, who was jailed on Monday for rape and sexual assaults.
Ministers Criticise Defence Remarks
Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson described the comments as "shameful" and a "callous trivialisation of the experiences of women everywhere who have experienced sexual violence."
Speaking to The Times, she said: "It is precisely because of characterisations such as this one that women so often fear they will not be believed, and so often choose not to come forward. It has to stop."
Education Secretary Lucy Powell told Sky News she found reports from the courtroom "incredibly depressing" and that such an environment "puts people off bringing these charges and coming forward in the first place." She later told LBC Radio that "a lot more needs to be done" to remove victim-blaming and rape myths from the system.
Court Arguments and Sentencing
Before Brand was sentenced, Winter stressed to Southwark Crown Court that the woman he raped in 2009 had engaged in "fully consensual" vaginal sex before the offence. He asked the judge to sentence Brand, 51, on the "lesser basis" that the rape was "quite a short … momentary total failure to respect her consent," during which his condom was removed.
He also said: "This should be regarded as a man who went too far and overrode consent that had been given."
Winter had argued that Brand could not be a rapist because his accusers had not "resisted or screamed or even tried to leave." Referring to a woman sexually assaulted at a Soho bar in 2004, he told the court: "She was not particularly vulnerable at all."
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said what he heard reported from the trial came very close to "victim blaming." At sentencing, Judge Mr Justice Bennathan stressed: "Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no."
Brand Begins Jail Term
Brand was sentenced to ten years and six months in jail for raping a 21-year-old fan at his London home and for three sexual assaults on TV and radio workers. He is believed to have been sent to HMP Wandsworth in south west London, which has been condemned for its "inhuman living conditions."
During the case, Winter reported himself to his professional regulator after being accused of a tirade at a female journalist who had investigated Brand, shortly after the guilty verdict. On Tuesday, Brand started his first full day behind bars as a convicted rapist.
