Russell Brand jailed for more than 10 years for rape and sexual assaults

Russell Brand has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years for raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three TV and radio workers during his rise to international fame.

Brand, now 51, abused his celebrity status to prey on women and was convicted after a trial at Southwark Crown Court of abuse against four victims.

One of his fans told how she was raped as a 21-year-old by Brand in 2009 at his luxury London home, while female staffers at Channel 4, MTV, and Capital Radio came forward to reveal how they had been sexually assaulted by the TV star.

On Monday, Mr Justice Bennathan slammed Brand’s “staggering arrogance” as he sentenced him to 10-and-a-half years in prison for rape and three counts of sexual assault.

The judge told Brand: “About 20 years ago Russell Brand, you were becoming famous, you were clever, and in many people’s eyes you were funny and charismatic.

“You had also become a sexual predator.”

The judge said Brand’s “status protected you” until in 2023 journalists from the Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches first exposed a litany of sexual misconduct, leading to women making complaints to police.

He said Brand harboured a “casual arrogant disregard to any woman’s right to say no to you”, while his fame meant he believed “you could act when you liked and how you liked”.

The judge said the evidence in the case also showed that Brand’s entourage during his celebrity heyday had “indulged your dreadful behaviour”.

Brand’s wife Laura Gallacher was sat just a few feet away from the shamed comedian in the glass-walled dock, and has vowed to stand by her husband.

Brand displayed no emotion in the dock as he was told his punishment, and he paused briefly to tell his wife “we’ll be OK” as he was being led away to the cells.

The judge imposed a nine-year jail term for the rape, and added on an extra year and a half for the sexual assaults.

One of the victims called Brand “a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behaviour has impacted my life”.

The rape victim told the court how she was a big fan of Brand before going to see him at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009, and she was picked out of the crowd by the comedian to join him backstage.

She willingly engaged in a threesome at the venue, then agreed to visit Brand’s £2.3 million townhouse in Hampstead Village to have sex.

But she said the encounter turned into rape when Brand had anal sex with her, ignored her pleas for him to stop, and pinned her down so she was struggling to breathe.

She told the court on Monday that Brand’s rising fame, with starring roles in Hollywood films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Arthur, his marriage to singer Katy Perry, and his subsequent appearances on TV, radio, stage, and podcasts, left her afraid to speak out for years.

“I felt that if I reported him, I would not be believed”, she said.

“His fame, wealth and influence created a power imbalance which made me feel powerless.”

The woman gave compelling evidence to Brand’s trial about willingly going to his home for sex, but the encounter starting off in unnerving fashion when he forced her to strip, shower, and brush her teeth.

She said the initial sex was “awkward” and unenjoyable but consensual, but it turned to rape when Brand started having anal sex without consent.

After the attack, Brand forced his victim to clean up the mess on the bed, then coldly ejected her from his home.

He was convicted of sexually assaulting a female Channel 4 worker during a recording session in 2009, shortly after he had started dating Ms Perry.

The woman, who was working alone with Brand and his entourage, was forced to massage the star when he threatened to derail the recording session, at which point he knelt down and thrust his head into her groin.

She told the court her complaint at the time to Channel 4 was “brushed under the carpet by senior management”.

She said: “There was a culture at the time which meant I felt I had to just carry on and not talk about it anymore.

“Which meant I did not give myself time to lament on it, boxed it up and pushed it aside.”

The woman said she was “quite innocent” before the attack by Brand, and his actions “burst that bubble”.

She added: “I felt powerless in that moment, and it had a knock-on effect on my confidence because I felt like I had no control on that day and there was nothing I could do about what he did to me.”

Brand was also found guilty by the jury of sexually assaulting an MTV worker in a Soho bar in 2004 during a birthday party.

Brand, wearing a “weird maniacal grin”, grabbed the woman’s breasts within seconds of meeting her.

The judge said the woman was “extremely upset and traumatised”, illustrated by the fact she was walking the streets of London later in the evening while crying on the phone to a friend.

Brand was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a Capital Radio worker when she bumped into him in a corridor in 2005.

She told the court Brand kissed her “sloppily”, groped her body, and just laughed when she eventually managed to push him away.

The judge said members of Brand’s entourage “no doubt…thought it was outrageous, laddish behaviour only you could get away with”.

But he told Brand: “It was outrageous and possibly laddish, but it was also a criminal offence, and as it turns out you haven’t got away with it.”

She said in her victim impact statement: “Russell Brand is a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behaviour has impacted my life.

“I just hope that he is not allowed to hurt any more women.”

Brand was remanded into custody straight away after his conviction on Thursday last week.

Arriving in the dock on Monday morning, he mouthed to his wife “It’ll be okay, I don’t know how, but it will”, and he was seen praying and making a cross sign with his hand as the victim statements were aired.

Defence barrister Ian Winter KC told the court that Ms Gallacher, the sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher and the daughter of Ryder Cup winning golfer Bernard Gallacher, is coping with “total devastation” after the guilty verdicts.

He said: “I’m afraid words are completely inadequate to truly try to convey to your Lordship the total devastation she’s experiencing.

“Currently (they) are wrestling with how to exactly explain to a child who’s just turned 10 what has happened here.

“It brings home the consequences of this conduct to totally innocent people who have been caught up in it.”

Ms Gallacher gave evidence in her husband’s defence during the trial, and at the sentencing hearing Mr Winter put forward six character references, including one from Georgina Baillie, the granddaughter of the late actor Andrew Sachs.

In her statement, Ms Baillie – who was at the centre of the 2008 Sachsgate scandal involving Brand – set out how the former comedian had helped her to recover from alcohol addiction and she wrote: “I still choose to support him as a person I know him to be.”

Brand, who has already spent four nights in custody at HMP Wandsworth, is expected to serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before being released on licence.

He will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.