Russell Brand's barrister Ian Winter reports himself to regulator after shouting 'you f****ed it, congratulations' at journalist after verdict

Russell Brand's barrister has reported himself to his professional regulator after swearing at a journalist shortly after the comedian was found guilty of rape.Ian Winter KC, described by one client as being of 'calm sophistication', exploded at Sunday Times reporter Rosamund Urwin outside Southwark Crown Court after his 51-year-old client was convicted of rape.The top lawyer, who was called to the Bar in 1988 and took silk in 2006, told Ms Urwin that he hoped she was 'pleased with herself', having been one of the leading journalists in the investigation that ultimately led to Brand's day in court.When she replied, 'I'm pleased justice has been done,' Mr Winter retorted: 'Well, it wasn't. You f***ed it. Congratulations.'The heated exchange took place on Thursday afternoon in full view of several journalists, and was first reported on the Daily Mail's liveblog of Brand's conviction.It happened moments after Brand had been found guilty by a jury of raping a fan and sexually assaulting three women at the peak of his career. Ian Winter has referred himself to the Bar Standards Board after he exploded at a journalist who had investigated Brand Brand (pictured earlier this week) has been told to expect a lengthy custodial sentence when he returns to court on Monday We speak to the detective who brought down Russell BrandHi, I'm Alex Matthews, Editor of The Crime Desk.Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape and three sexual assaults - and our reporters Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull were in court every day to witness it all. They sat down with Detective Inspector Laura Nelson who revealed why the women who accused him in the infamous documentary were not involved in his rape trial. Subscribe to The Crime Desk to listen to the podcast. He was cleared of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. He had denied all charges. In a statement issued on Friday, Mr Winter said he has now referred himself to the Bar Standards Board, his professional regulator.He said: 'Having seen the ways matters have been characterised in today's press I consider my professional duty requires me to self-report those allegations to the Bar Standards Board, so the matter can be subject to proper scrutiny.'I have made such a report.'Glowing reviews on the website of his chambers, Cloth Fair, describe Mr Winter as being 'in it to win it' and 'tremendous and fearless' in court, while the firm itself calls him 'one of the leading silks at the Bar'.Another review notes: 'Ian is a star of the criminal bar. He has a calm sophistication which is eminently reassuring to corporate clients.'Ms Urwin, now chief news correspondent at the newspaper, was media editor when she, together with other journalists at The Times and Channel 4, published an exposé on Brand containing serious allegations of sexual assault in September 2023.It almost immediately led to the Metropolitan Police launching an investigation that saw Brand charged with multiple sexual offences in April 2025.Ben Taylor, editor of The Sunday Times, told Times Radio that Mr Winter's tirade was 'quite extraordinary', adding: 'I have never seen or heard of a barrister behaving in this way.' He added: 'There's a really serious point here, which is that it was not Ros [Ms Urwin] who found Russell Brand guilty at Southwark Crown Court. It was a jury of eight men and four women who have sat through this case.'They've listened to the evidence, they've listened to the defence, and they have gone away and they've come back with some very considered verdicts.'By impugning Ros' integrity, what Mr Winter is doing, and he should really be called to account for this, he's impugning the integrity of the entire case. 'I think what he did was reprehensible.'It came after it emerged that Mr Winter, acting for Brand, had sought to have the case thrown out as Brand had already been 'destroyed' in a 'trial by media'. Mr Winter attempted to suggest that the press was in contempt of court and had perverted the course of justice by publishing the article.But the judge rejected that attempt to stop the trial after it was pointed out that Brand had continued to perform at sell-out shows after the allegations had been made public – and that jurors could be found who had not seen the 2023 coverage.The KC – awarded the title in recognition of his track record of work in the country's highest courts – once again put the media in his sights during the trial, using his closing arguments to claim that the press had 'poisoned the well of justice'.Brand spent his first night in prison last night. He is due to be sentenced on Monday, and has been told to expect a lengthy custodial sentence.READ MORE: I covered every day of the Russell Brand trial... no amount of prayers were ever going to save himREAD MORE: The wife who stood by Russell Brand's side: How 'mummy blogger' Laura Gallacher - and her golfer father Bernard - supported comedian during rape trialREAD MORE: Beginnings of Brand's depravity: How his sex-obsessed father Ron paid for a prostitute for his 17-year-old son - sparking a lifelong compulsion to use and abuse women: ALISON BOSHOFFREAD MORE: Russell Brand's strange entourage of God-fearing misfits who attended court with him every dayREAD MORE: Brand's Florida reinvention as a 'saviour in swimwear' who preached on the beach, baptised young women in the ocean and cosied up to MAGA and the manosphereREAD MORE: Russell Brand's matey time with Labour: Disgraced comic invited to give drug talk by MP later forced out by cocaine and rent boys sting - and backed hard-Left Corbyn