Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was horrified after Russell Brand was found guilty of rape and sexual assault, and praised the bravery of the victims who came forward.
Mr Burnham reacted to the disgraced comedian's guilty verdict during an appearance on Times Radio today (November 6). Brand is facing years behind bars after being found guilty of one rape and three sexual assaults.
Verdict details
The 51-year-old was found guilty of raping a young fan he met after one of his Hammersmith Apollo shows in 2009. The jury found him guilty of groping another MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to rape her in a toilet.
Brand was convicted of kissing and groping a Capital Radio worker after encountering her in a corridor in 2005. He was also convicted by the jury of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker in 2009 when she had been forced to give him a massage.
He was found not guilty by the jury of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. He was also cleared of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.
Burnham's response
Mr Burnham reacted to the verdict when asked about it today. The Aintree-born politician said: "It’s horrifying what Russell Brand has done.
"And I’d firstly like to praise the bravery of the women, the victims in the case, who’ve come forward and had the courage to speak out. But yes, the journalists too, who supported those who had been abused by Russell Brand and worse.
"So all of them deserve our praise for having that courage to stand forward."
Investigation and trial
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.
Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin, whose investigation led to Brand’s victims coming forward, was confronted by Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, outside the courtroom yesterday. He told her: "I hope you are pleased with yourself." Ms Urwin responded: "I’m pleased justice has been done," before Mr Winter said: "Well, it wasn’t. You f***** it." He added: "Congratulations."
During the trial, Mr Winter had argued that reporting of allegations against Brand by Ms Urwin and others had "poisoned the well", and rendered it impossible for him to have a fair trial. The trial judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, dismissed an attempt by Brand to block his trial from taking place because of negative media coverage.
