Laura Gallacher, the wife of Russell Brand, is reportedly planning to move back to the UK to be closer to her husband while he is in prison. Brand faces years behind bars after being convicted of raping one fan and sexually assaulting three women.
On Thursday (November 5) at Southwark Crown Court, a jury found the 51-year-old guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was cleared of two further rape charges and one allegation of attempted indecent assault. Brand was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing on Monday.
Wife's Loyalty and Family Support
Laura Gallacher, who attended much of the trial, was seen to hunch over in the public gallery as Mr Justice Bennathan told Brand that he faces an inevitable and lengthy jail term. The couple married in 2017 and moved to Florida in 2024.
Sources close to Gallacher, whose father is former golf pro Bernard Gallacher, say she has remained loyal to her husband. A friend said her parents and family are supporting her.
"Laura's whole world has collapsed. She is holding it together for the children," the friend told The Sun. "The people around her are just trying to support her as best they can. She doesn't need judgement, she needs an arm around her shoulder."
Plans to Return to Henley-on-Thames
Gallacher is said to be standing by her husband and planning to move back to Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, where the couple already have a property.
"Her husband is a rapist, and that will follow her everywhere she goes. But Laura is resolutely loyal to Russell and has been for a long time," the friend said. "She believed what he told her and has stood by him this entire time. As his wife, her loyalty is with Russell. And he undoubtedly will need her support more than ever now. The people closest to her believe she is going to stay in the UK and wait for him."
Details of the Convictions
A couple of months after he started hosting Big Brother's Big Mouth in 2004, Brand sexually assaulted a woman in the Nordic bar in Soho, central London, by grabbing her breasts during a party of his former MTV colleagues. She accused him of dragging her to the men's toilets and orally raping her, but the jury found Brand not guilty on that count.
A worker at Capital Radio said Brand forced himself on to her during a visit to the station in 2005, pinning her to a wall while he groped and 'sloppily' kissed her. Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting her. The victim told jurors that members of his entourage laughed as they saw the attack happen.
He was also convicted of anally raping a 21-year-old superfan in his £2.3 million Hampstead townhouse in 2009, days after meeting her at one of his Hammersmith Apollo shows. The same year, during a recording session at Channel 4, Brand sexually assaulted another woman by thrusting his head into her groin after she was told to give him a massage.
In September 2023, an investigation by journalists from The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches published accusations from women who said they had been raped, sexually abused, and degraded by Brand. The revelations prompted four women to come forward to accuse Brand of criminal offences, while another two women came forward once Brand had been charged.
Since his convictions, The Met has confirmed investigations are ongoing into two other allegations of rape made against Brand.
