Treated like an animal as she was raped...before Russell Brand said 'I'm sorry': The evidence that finally brought down the comedian more than 25 years later

At one time he was celebrated for his rock star persona and bohemian chic - but Russell Brand cut a very different figure this week as he was finally unveiled as a sexually voracious 'monster'.During his four-week trial, the jury heard how Brand, 51, treated one of his victims 'like an animal' as he viciously raped her, before later sending text messages to say he was 'sorry'. In other instances, he sexually assaulted three women in 'frenzied' attacks in which they described being 'violently groped' or 'lunged at' - and in one instance, having Brand's head 'thrust' into their groin. On Thursday, following nearly nine hours of deliberation, the jury found the former comedian and actor guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo.He was also found guilty of groping another MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to orally rape her in a toilet.Jurors additionally found Brand guilty of sexually assaulting a radio worker after meeting her in a corridor in 2005, and sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker during a forced massage in 2009.He was cleared of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.Britain's top police officer has since warned the cases brought to trial could just be the 'tipping point'.Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he 'wouldn't be surprised' if the former comedian's downfall encouraged more victims to report historic allegations against famous figures. Russell Brand arriving with his wife Laura to Southwark Crown Court this week before being found guilty of rape and sexual assault At the height of his success, Brand's behaviour towards women was accepted and celebrated Brand pictured during a police interview in 2025 where he was quizzed over the allegationsHe added 'many, many more' alleged victims may also come forward to accuse Brand of further offences.The Crown Prosecution Service is also considering bringing further charges after he was accused of two more rapes, including that of a 16-year-old girl.Sir Rowley's comments came after father-of-three Brand mouthed 'I love you' to his sobbing wife Laura from the dock, before spending his first night in solitary confinement at Wandsworth Prison on Thursday, after being found guilty of launching the heinous sex attacks.It was a far cry from the comedian's heyday when, at the height of his success, Brand's behaviour towards women was accepted and celebrated.The Sun newspaper even named him Shagger Of The Year three times in a row.But evidence at his criminal trial revealed Brand to be a man who abused his fame to obtain sex while treating women as objects.Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told the court women were a 'disposable commodity' as she dubbed him a 'sexual predator'.She said: 'They didn't matter to him. He didn't even need to know their names. They were just a means to an end.'Brand's own words from his 2007 book My Booky Wook also came back to haunt him, as he called himself 'demonically sexy' and admitted he could be 'uneasy company' when in the pursuit of sex.He wrote: 'If I want something – whether it's a job or a woman – I will determinedly, resolutely, remove anything that's in the way, until I possess the object of my desire.'Brand proudly referred to his world as an 'amusement park made out of orgasms' and treated his victims as mere playthings. And he told friends that his goal was to 'bed 5,000 women in his lifetime', insisting: 'All you have to do is tell them what they need to hear'.But in reality, Brand simply prowled like a sexual predator to take what he wanted, the court heard. Despite the claims, Brand arrogantly assumed he would be acquitted - but in the end the testimony of his victims proved too catastrophic for the jury to ignore.'He treated me like an animal' Russell Brand's youngest victim told how she was raped at his £2.3million home after being handpicked from a line-up of fans.The comedian preyed on the 21-year-old after luring the fan to his Hampstead mansion, promising to 'help' her after a break-up.Brand, who was then 33, was found to have pushed the woman face down into the pillow of his 'enormous bed' while he raped her, leaving her struggling to breathe.Southwark Crown Court heard the victim was left bleeding and ordered to 'clean up the mess you have made'.Harrowing details of the 2009 attack came to light after the woman met Brand following a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo.She told police: 'In the years that followed, I tortured myself because it was one of the most painful experiences I have ever gone through.'Jurors heard that she and a 19-year-old girl were selected for a 'threesome' after Brand pointed at her in a line of female fans in the theatre foyer, saying: 'You'.Giddy with excitement, she went for drinks with the comic and they kissed in a bar before he invited her backstage.'I did perform oral sex with him and he did have sex with this other girl on the sofa', she recalled.'He asked me why I did not have sex with him and I said I had a boyfriend.'His response was 'We are all free. We don't belong to anyone.''I was quite tearful at that point, and he asked for my number.'I came out feeling f****** awful. The scenario was not something I had been in before, it was kind of disgusting.'The woman confessed to her boyfriend afterwards and they split up.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. Brand then began texting and calling her, promising: 'I will hold you and help you'.The victim, who described herself as a 'massive Russell Brand fan', said: 'I probably knew it was bull**** but it was nice to hear.'She was instructed to go to a restaurant, provide a false name and wait for a driver to take her to Brand's three-storey home in Hampstead.Describing his living room, which had a stag's skull mounted above the fireplace, she said: 'Some unusual art. When he came through, he was the bubbly persona that he was on stage.'The pair went upstairs after Brand is said to have told her: 'This is the best decision you have ever made. I'm so glad you are finally here.'She said of his room which had a framed crucifix over the bed: 'I remember the black loo roll because it was distinctive. The bed was enormous.'The victim recalled: 'We were kissing and he was like, 'You need to have a shower, your hair smells funny'.'That did not sound kind. I showered and he then said you need to brush your teeth. It made me feel grubby and dirty.'The pair had consensual sex, but the victim said: 'It felt very awkward. It didn't matter who I was, and I just sort of wanted it to be over.'She said that Brand then removed the condom and anally raped her without warning, forcing her head onto the pillow.'I felt like I could not speak and breathe. The amount of pain. I was not aware that he was going to do that, there was not any conversation,' she said.'I asked him to stop quietly then I said it a few times more loudly.'He said 'I want you to feel my c**'.'After the attack, Brand instructed her to 'clear up' the bed before putting on the TV to watch Quantum Leap, it was said.The victim was ushered out of the house by a member of staff before being handed tissues by a driver, she said.Feeling 'small and powerless', the woman stopped eating, sleeping and later developed an addiction to alcohol after blaming herself for the attack, saying: 'I didn't think what happened to me would happen to a nice girl.'She feared that she had contracted HIV, but tests came back clear. Brand, pictured in 2008, was described in court as a sexually voracious 'monster' bent on achieving his 'goal' of bedding 5,000 womenThe victim added: 'It was traumatic. He hurt me. He harmed me and when I begged him to stop he didn't.'Six months later, she was surprised to receive a 'random' text message from Brand, saying he wanted to 'push her further'.She replied asking: 'Why are you even messaging me?'The victim then said: 'I remember his response, saying, ''Because you're dirty and I want to push you further'.'Feeling upset at Brand contacting her again, she did not respond straight away. But finally she replied: 'I think you've pushed me far enough, you treated me like an animal.'The woman added: 'I do remember his response was immediate. He said, 'I'm sorry'.'In 2025, the victim went to police, because she said: 'I don't want to live with this anymore. I don't want to die not saying this to the right people.'In a sickening twist, the court heard how he had saved her number in his phone under T – for 'Tart' - a secret code that only came to light some 17 years after the crime and because it went to trial. He also added two stars to her name in an apparent 'rating' of the 21-year-old.'He violently groped me...as his entourage watched' Brand 'mauled' a second woman in 2005, groping her in a 'frenzied' and 'violent' attack at Choice FM studios in central London.A journalist wept as she said Brand pinned her against a wall and kissed her 'sloppily' while fondling her breasts in a cramped radio booth with three other men and a woman.'He just leapt on me', she recalled.'He kissed me and pushed his body against mine. This is a perfect stranger that just grabbed me and was running his hands over my body.'The woman told the court: 'I wanted it to go away. I don't gain a single thing by saying 'Russell Brand did that to me'. I have nothing to gain at all.'She recalled: 'He was kissing me and he was pushing his body against me.'It was hard, I would say it was sloppy. He was kissing me all down my neck. His hands at that time were all over me.'He touched my bum, touched my breasts, hands on my waist, his other hands were pinning me so his body was pressed up against me.'She added: 'It was rough, it was very, very rough. It was hard, I would say that his whole body was pressed against me, the kisses were hard and sloppy, going down my neck.'The reason I used the word frenzied is because it was just … violent.'She told jurors members of Brand's entourage watched on as the attack happened, and did nothing but laugh as she looked over pleading for them to intervene. 'He thrust his head into my groin' A Channel 4 worker described how Brand put his head in her lap after his entourage demanded she give the star a massage in 2009.During a recording session, members of Brand's entourage, Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy, forced a young female staffer to give him a massage, the court heard.When she had reluctantly agreed, Brand thrust his head into the woman's groin and only got up again when apparently insulted that she had commented on his 'bony' body.'I was so repulsed by the situation', she told the court. She added that she complained afterwards to her Channel 4 bosses.Bayles, now head of comedy at independent production firm Various Artists Limited (VAL), will no longer work on two sitcoms the business was making for the BBC, it was revealed on Friday. He had been involved in the production of BBC sitcoms Such Brave Girls and Push through his work at VAL. He also previously produced the Channel 4 sitcom Catastrophe. Mr Bayles told The Times in a statement: 'I am appalled and sickened by Brand's actions and have co-operated fully and voluntarily with the investigation and endeavoured to assist as best I can.'However, I do not remember the incident that took place 17 years ago in 2009.'But I acknowledge that I clearly missed something at the time and did not see nor recognise that it caused distress. For that I am sincerely sorry.'He added that 'Brand was chaotic, dismissive and manipulated the people around him' and the offence occurred in the early stages of his career, which was a 'frantic, pressured and toxic working environment.'Mr Bayles said he had not had any contact or worked with Brand since 2010. 'He lunged at me and grabbed my breasts' Another victim, who worked for MTV, said Brand 'lunged' at her and grabbed her breasts when they were talking about Big Brother in a Soho bar in July 2004.Prosecutors said the comedian had a 'big, weird grin' on his face as he assaulted her.In her recorded interview with police, the woman said 'he literally just grabbed my boobs out of nowhere in the middle of the conversation, just in the middle of a conversation and I just remember this weird maniacal grin, looming in front of me as he just grabbed my boobs'. She further alleged that he then dragged her into the toilets against her will, where he orally raped her. Brand was found not guilty of this charge and another relating to this incident of attempted indecent assault. Brand is now set to be sentenced on Monday, after being convicted of one rape and three sexual assaults.A conviction of rape can carry a life sentence, with standard maximum determinate sentences often reaching up to 19 years depending on the severity and guidelines.Sexual assault convictions, meanwhile, carry a maximum sentence of 10 years per count.There could be further torment ahead for Brand, who is also facing civil claims in Britain and America.A High Court claim has been lodged by a woman seeking £100,000 in damages. She says Brand forced himself on her at his LA mansion in 2008.The 23-year-old fled half-dressed in terror after he allegedly pushed her onto his bed and tried to perform sex acts against her will.There is also a separate lawsuit in New York. Brand is accused by an extra in the 2010 romantic comedy remake Arthur of exposing himself to cast members before sexually assaulting her on set.READ MORE: Young women in TV are 'still at risk from predators' after Russell Brand's conviction, broadcasting chief warnsREAD MORE: There could be many more victims, says Met Chief: As Russell Brand faces two new rape claims, stark warning is made to other celebrities with a dark pastREAD MORE: T for Tart: What Russell Brand called victim in his phone contacts READ MORE: Moment Russell Brand says he will make his female assistant strip naked to meet Jimmy Savile in creepy conversation with notorious paedophileREAD MORE: Russell Brand's strange entourage of God-fearing misfits who attended court with him every dayREAD MORE: Unsettling moment Russell Brand jokes with Noel Fielding about being rapists in front of Lily Allen in TV exchange she found 'really horrendous'