Mark Pinheiro, Russell Brand's former housemate, has claimed he witnessed a woman attempting to flee the comedian's bedroom while they lived together. Pinheiro made the accusation in Netflix's new documentary Russell Brand: Open Secret, released after Brand's conviction for rape and sexual assault.
Brand, 51, was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison on Monday after being found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. The documentary traces Brand's rise as a comedian and presenter, as well as the investigation by The Times and The Sunday Times' chief news correspondent Rosamund Urwin and investigations correspondent Charlotte Wace into his sexual wrongdoing.
Housemate's account
The 80-minute film features archival footage from the late 1990s, when Brand lived with Pinheiro. Pinheiro served as a witness for the prosecution at the Southwark Crown Court sexual assault trial, but in the documentary recounted how they had once been close after meeting on a theatre course.
'He was a bit down and out, so I offered him the back room in my house,' Pinheiro told the documentary-makers, recalling how they became 'very close'. 'He was unemployed. He just left drama college and was adamant about not wanting to find ordinary work. But he needed to pay the rent,' added Pinheiro, who said Brand started teaching at a language school.
Alleged incident
Later in the documentary, Pinheiro detailed an alleged incident in their shared home, when he overheard Brand and a woman from his bedroom. He said: 'He got her into his bedroom and it was getting really calamitous in the room. You're hearing loads of noise and you can hear the girl shouting, "Let go of me".'
'I'm thinking, this has gone on long enough. So I open up my door and I see Russell basically holding onto the girl with both of his hands, gripping hold of her arm, trying to pull her back in like a tug of war. She's wrestling herself away from him. Then as I switch the light on, the light comes on, and he lets go.'
Pinheiro said he told the woman she should 'feel free' to report the incident to the police and said he would 'support' her in doing so. 'Whether she reported it, I don't know,' he added.
Trial testimony
Brand's former housemate provided testimony in relation to the allegation that Brand raped a woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999. Brand was not found guilty on this count. In his testimony, Pinheiro told the court he asked Brand to move out after they had lived together for around a year, but said they stayed in touch and met up on holidays.
Metro contacted Russell Brand's representatives for comment on this story.
