British comedian and actor Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault by a London court and could face a lengthy prison sentence. A jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Thursday convicted the 51-year-old of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand, who was one of the most prominent broadcasters in Britain and the former husband of US pop star Katy Perry, had denied the allegations. He maintained that the encounters were consensual or that the allegations had been fabricated. Prosecutors described Brand, who starred in the films Get Him to the Greek and Arthur, as a “ruthless” sexual predator.
Judge Joel Bennathan said Brand would be sentenced on Monday and faced a lengthy prison term. Brand was taken into custody following the verdict. Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of London’s Metropolitan Police said the conviction was “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them”.
The court heard testimony from six complainants, all of whom are entitled to lifelong anonymity. None of the women knew each other, but all came forward to police following a television documentary and press reports in 2023 containing anonymous allegations against Brand by other women. The most graphic evidence related to the rape for which he was convicted which took place in 2009, involving a victim who had met Brand after a gig where she had engaged in a sexual encounter in his dressing room.
She recounted how days later she had gone to his home where during consensual sex, he had anally raped her. Afterwards he had told her to clear up the blood and mess, she said. Brand was also convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a London bar in 2004.
The woman told the court he approached her at a party and grabbed her breasts. In another incident in 2009, Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman while they were working on a promotional project. The court heard that he demanded she give him a massage before putting his head between her legs in front of two of his colleagues.
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