Russell Brand told his wife "we'll be OK" as he was led away from the dock after being sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison. The 51-year-old was branded a "sexual predator" by Mr Justice Bennathan at Southwark Crown Court as the judge handed down his sentence.
Mr Justice Bennathan ordered Brand to begin his sentence immediately after he was found guilty last Thursday afternoon, meaning he was taken straight into custody.
Brief exchange before custody
Brand showed little emotion as he was sentenced, but turned to his wife, Laura Gallacher, and said: "we'll be OK" as dock officers escorted him downstairs. The couple shared a brief conversation before the shamed comedian was taken downstairs.
Mrs Gallacher was seen breathing deeply and muttering "it's okay, it's okay" as a large posse of people ushered her through the corridors of the court.
Trial details and convictions
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 lauded TV and radio host, and a Hollywood actor who was briefly married to singer Katy Perry.
He claimed to have only ever had consensual sex during a "promiscuous" life, which he insisted had been packed with "idiocy" but never illegal. But his victims told a different story, of a famous and powerful man who kissed and groped women within seconds of meeting them, pursued his sexual ambitions relentlessly, and laughed at and gaslit women after the attacks.
Friends and former colleagues of Brand also came forward to give evidence of his ambition to sleep with 5,000 women, an "insane" sexual appetite, and his bad behaviour towards women being "normalised" as he became increasingly famous.
Specific assaults described
Brand was convicted by the jury of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009, after meeting her following one of his stand-up shows at the Hammersmith Apollo. Another woman told the court how her breasts were groped by Brand in the Nordic bar in Soho, just seconds after she had been introduced to him at a 2004 party.
She recalled Brand's "weird" grin as he carried out the sexual assault, brazenly grabbing her in the middle of a packed bar. In 2005, Brand kissed and groped a third woman during a visit to the Capital Radio studios in London, pouncing on her as she walked out of a room. She remembers looking to Brand's entourage for help but no one came to her aid, before she eventually managed to push the comedian away.
Brand 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, who claimed to be the victim of a media conspiracy, was convicted by the jury of rape and three sexual assaults, and cleared of two further charges of rape and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.
