Warning: Contains distressing details
Russell Brand has been jailed for 10 and a half years for raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others during his showbusiness career.
The disgraced comedian was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, where Mr Justice Bennathan described him as a “sexual predator”.
He added that Brand had “a casual and arrogant disregard for a woman’s right to say no to [him]”.
Assessing his crimes, the judge said: “Whatever women wear, wherever they go, whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no and demand justice in the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Mr Brand, act without their consent.”
Mr Justice Bennathan told Brand he had become a ‘sexual predator’ as he was starting to become famous (Photo: Cameras in Court/Press Association)
Brand was sentenced to eight months, nine months, and 18 months in prison for the three sexual assaults. These sentences will run concurrently.
He was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape. The term will run consecutively to the sentences for sexual assault – meaning he faces 10 years and six months in total.
Mr Justice Bennathan told Brand, 51, he will serve at least two thirds of the term in prison before he becomes eligible for release on licence.
“About 20 years ago, you were becoming famous. You were clever – and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic. You had also become a sexual predator,” the judge said.
The court heard Brand was 33 and his victim 21 when he anally raped her in the spring of 2009. The woman was left “distraught and in severe pain”. Sexual assaults of the other women, often in front of his entourage, demonstrated his “staggering arrogance”, the judge added.
In the wake of his convictions, the Metropolitan Police revealed Brand is currently under investigation over two further rape allegations.
Brand did not react to the sentence, and was taken down to the cells. He stopped for a moment to mouth to his wife: “I love you.”
Brand’s wife Laura answered no questions as she walked out of Southwark Crown Court and got into a black minivan (Photo: Jack Taylor/Reuters)
Andy Burnham said that the bravery shown by women who came forward to report Brand would bring about wider changes to the legal system.
The Prime Minister added that he would be “relentless in making whatever improvements we can” to provide more support for victims, including ensuring that every police force has a rape and serious sexual offence team.
“Today, everybody will be thinking about the women who had the courage to come forward. Their bravery will, I believe, change the system more broadly, and we will be relentless in making whatever improvements we can,” Burnham said.
“But there’s no complacency here. There’s a lot more that needs to change.”
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, of the Metropolitan Police, said he hoped the outcome would provide “some measure of closure” for Brand’s victims.
“Their courage in coming forward has not only led to this outcome but may also give confidence to others who have suffered sexual violence to seek help and report what happened to them,” he added.
Brand’s father Ron Brand leaves the court (Photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP)
Leaving court, Brand’s father was asked by reporters whether he had a message for his son’s victims. “The victim? What, Russell?” Ron Brand responded. “The girls, you mean, who chased him and harrassed him – is that what you mean?”
He said he did not believe in the justice system “on the basis of what I just watched”.
Brand, who had denied the charges, was found guilty last Thursday, after a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court. He was cleared of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
‘A sexual predator who has no remorse’
A Channel 4 worker who was sexually assaulted by Brand said the attack was “brushed under the carpet” by her bosses and she still worries about possible repercussions for speaking out.
The woman was targeted by Brand during a recording session in 2009, when she was forced by the comedian’s entourage to give him a massage.
When she reluctantly agreed – to keep the session going – Brand knelt down and thrust his head into her groin.
In a victim impact statement read to Southwark Crown Court on Monday, the woman said she had been “powerless” during the incident, “really upset” in the aftermath, and struggled to trust colleagues in the years that followed.
A radio worker who was sexually assaulted by Brand in 2005 told the court she almost withdrew her allegation because of the emotional strain of being at the centre of a criminal case.
She told the court: “Russell Brand is a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behaviour has impacted my life.”
The woman who was raped by Brand in 2009, after meeting him at one of his comedy shows at the Hammersmith Apollo, told the court she struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues in the years that followed.
“Because of who he was and the influence he held, I did not feel confident speaking openly about what had happened”, she said.
A former MTV worker, who was groped in a Soho bar by Brand, told the judge: “I felt like my life was on hold for all of that time waiting my time to speak out about what happened to me.”
She said she suffered a panic attack after seeing media reports of her evidence at trial, and added: “Even more terrifying was seeing my character be torn apart on social media by people believing all of us women were making it up.”
Read more on the victims’ statements here.
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