Russell Brand has been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison for rape and sexual assault. The sentence was handed down at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, November 9, where Judge Mr Justice Bennathan described Brand as having become a "sexual predator" as he rose to fame.
Admission of Animal Cruelty in Memoir
Years before his conviction, Brand admitted in his 2007 memoir, My Booky Wook, to physically abusing his family dog. He recalled how, at around age 11, he would lure the dog, Topsy, up the stairs before kicking her back down.
In the book, Brand wrote: "When we first got Topsy, she would be allowed to sleep in the bed with me. But when Colin came, an absurd edict was introduced whereby she was no longer allowed upstairs. I evidently had a lot of anger and hate in me about this because I would perch at the top of the stairs and lure her to come up—'Topsy! Topsy! Topsy!'".
He described how he would then scold the dog for coming upstairs before kicking her down, only to comfort her afterwards. He reflected: "That's quite f****d up, isn't it? My friend Matt Morgan says Topsy must've thought she lived in a house with twins—an evil one who lived on the landing, and a good one who dwelt downstairs."
Details of the Convictions
The four-week trial heard how Brand preyed on women he encountered on his path 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, who said she was a huge fan and had willingly engaged in a threesome with him backstage, later agreed to go to his Hampstead home for sex, where a consensual encounter turned into rape when he forced her into anal sex.
Another woman told the court how Brand groped her breasts in a Soho bar seconds after being introduced to her at a 2004 party. In 2005, he kissed and groped a third woman during a visit to Capital Radio studios in London. He was also convicted of putting his head into the groin of a female Channel 4 worker after she was 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 described as full of "idiocy" but never illegal acts.
