Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand faced three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault against six women (Picture: Yui Mok/Press Association) Russell Brand has been found guilty after a four-week-long rape and sexual assault trial. The 51-year-old former actor and comedian was facing three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The jury found Brand guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker in 2009 after she had been forced to give him a massage. The remaining convictions related to incidents involving two other women. Brand was found guilty of kissing and groping a Capital Radio worker in a corridor in 2005, as well as groping an MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004. In total, Brand was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. However, he was cleared by the jury of two further counts of rape and one charge of attempted indecent assault. After entering the dock, Brand turned to his wife, Laura Gallacher, and told her: ‘I love you’. However, the comedian showed no visible emotion as the jury delivered its verdicts, remaining expressionless as he heard he had been found guilty of four offences. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Following the verdict, Mr Justice Bennathan told the comedian: ‘Sit down Mr Brand.’ ‘Mr Winter, Ms Karmy-Jones, just on what happens next given the verdict on count six at least, obviously a custodial sentence of some length will result.’ The judge added that the case was ‘very well prepared.’ Speaking directly to Brand, Justice Bennathan continued: ‘You’ve been convicted of a number of offences including rape. The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term. ‘My current view is that I therefore have to remand you into custody.’ The sentencing hearing is set to take place on Monday. Russell Brand: Trial verdicts at a glance Found guilty of four offences: One count of rape. Three counts of sexual assault. Raped a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo. Sexually assaulted a Channel 4 worker in 2009 after she was forced to give him a massage. Kissed and groped a Capital Radio worker in a corridor in 2005. Groped an MTV worker at a Soho bar in 2004. Found not guilty of three charges: Two counts of rape. One count of attempted indecent assault. The jury cleared him of raping an MTV worker in a toilet in 2004. He was also cleared of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show during the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. He was found not guilty of attempting to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001. The trial: The trial took place at Southwark Crown Court and lasted nearly four weeks. The jury deliberated for eight and a half hours before reaching its verdicts. Brand showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered. The allegations, made by six female complainants, spanned a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009. Brand denied the charges. Appearing in the witness box from Southwark Crown Court during the trial, Brand said the criminal case had been a ‘deeply traumatic episode’ in his life. He said he had achieved ‘staggering fame’ after his marriage to pop star Katy Perry, but since a 2023 investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches into the allegations surrounding him, nobody would ‘touch [him] with a bargepole’. ‘Consent is absolutely non-negotiable,’ he said, adding that he was ‘innocent’ of all the charges. ‘Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and, indeed, in many ways more important than sex itself,’ he told the court. Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault charges spanning 10 years (Picture: AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Brand denied three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of attempted indecent assault (Picture: Elizabeth Cook/Press Association) The trial also saw his wife, Laura Gallacher, who Brand shares three children with, give evidence. Gallacher told the court she and Brand fell in love after meeting in 2006, but that the comedian was unfaithful to her early in their relationship. ‘I wasn’t interested in having a relationship with him if he was sleeping with other people. I was invested, we both had told each other we loved each other, but it was clear it was difficult for him to be monogamous,’ she said. She insisted Brand was a ‘wonderful father’ and ‘amazingly attentive husband’, adding: ‘We have a very frank, honest and clear relationship and marriage.’ Alleged victims said Brand switched suddenly after appearing charming, forced them into sexual activity in a toilet, a hotel room, workplace corridors, and his bedroom, and acted as if nothing had happened after the attacks. Laura Brand stood in the witness box as a character witness for her husband (Picture: REUTERS) Gallacher said it was ‘difficult’ for Brand to be monogamous early in their relationship (Picture: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Shutterstock) The jury was told that the first complainant met Brand before he was famous in 1999. The woman, who attended the 1999 Labour party conference, said Brand raped her in a hotel room after she had watched him perform in a cabaret show. Brand was also accused of raping a 21-year-old fan a few days after they met at his 2009 stand-up comedy show at the Hammersmith Apollo in west London. An MTV worker later gave evidence that Brand tried to drag her into a toilet at the central London offices where she worked in 2001. Brand was also accused of groping a woman during a birthday party at a Soho bar, then dragging her to the toilet and forcing her to perform oral sex on him. A radio worker in London then told the court she was pinned against a wall, groped and subjected to ‘sloppy’ kisses by Brand in 2005. The final allegation against Brand was that he put his head into a woman’s lap when she had been forced to give him a massage. The jury was shown archival topless photographs of Brand from 1999 (Picture: METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE) Brand said he had dedicated much of his life to ‘beyond reckless philandering and idiocy’ (Picture: Jordan Pettitt/Press Association) Prosecutor, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, gave a closing speech on Friday October 30, telling jurors that the six women who came forward to accuse Brand did not know one another and had nothing to gain. ‘There is no benefit to them, apart from perhaps some closure by coming before you and telling you their accounts of what happened to them so long ago,’ Karmy-Jones told the jury. ‘What’s happened, we suggest, is these women have realised they’re not alone and they’ve bravely come before you to tell you the truth. The truth of what happened to them so many years ago. The truth they have lived with, which in some cases has haunted them for years.’ Giving evidence for more than four hours, Brand said he had dedicated much of his life to ‘beyond reckless philandering and idiocy’, saying he had been wrong to use his fame to get sex. Brand said he had failed to find any friends and former colleagues who would give evidence in his defence, recounting being blocked from visiting his baby son when he was having open heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the wake of the 2023 allegations. He added that he had an ‘obsession’ with sex in his younger life, but denied having a ‘goal’ to sleep with 5,000 women. ‘As I became more successful and famous I was very comfortable allowing that to facilitate sexual access, which I agree was wrong,’ he told the court. Deals of the Day The Orlando holiday deal Disney fans shouldn't miss We're adding this discounted NEOM gift set straight to basket Want an LED face mask for less? 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