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Brand to be sentenced for rape and sexual assault today
Frances Mao
Good morning. Russell Brand will be sentenced today after being found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others in seperate incidents between 2004-2009.
The disgraced former comedian and Hollywood star has been behind bars since he was convicted by a jury last Thursday, denied bail by his trial judge who ruled that he posed a flight risk.
During the four-week trial, prosecutors had argued that Brand was a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator” who pursued women relentlessly and exploited his fame and power to get what he wanted from them sexually.
The 51-year-old father of three is now facing a “significant” prison term, Justice Joel Bennathan said last week.
The sentencing is taking place in Southwark Crown Court in London and commences at 10:30am GMT. I’ll bring you all the developments.
Key events
The sentencing has been pushed back as court staff attempt to rearrange the courtroom so one of the victims can be protected, PA reports.
She will be reading her impact statement live in the courtroom.
Officers are trying to arrange the room so that the public gallery and Brand’s supporters cannot see this witness, who as I’ve mentioned earlier, is entitled to lifelong anonymity.
The other victims will have their statements read out by the prosecution.
Proceedings are due to begin shortly in Court 1 of Southwark Crown Court.
It’s expected that lead prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC will give the first address, making the case for the sentence length the Crown thinks is most appropriate.
Typically, the court can also expect to hear impact statements from victims during this period.
Brand’s defence lawyer, Ian Winter KC, will then make an argument for why his client should receive as short a sentence as possible.
Judge Bennathan then may retire for a short adjournment to weigh up each argument. But he is due to give his sentencing judgement today.
The four-week trial also heard tearful and forceful testimony from the six women who came forward to police about their experiences with Brand.
Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault charges against four women, and acquitted of the rape and indecent assault allegations made by two women.
All of the women are entitled to lifelong anonymity under protection and privacy laws.
None of the women knew one another. But they reported their experiences to police in 2023, after The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4: Dispatches published investigations into Brand’s behaviour on allegations made by other women, who said they had been raped, sexually abused and degraded by the then actor-comedian. Those women are not involved in this criminal trial.
Brand’s defence lawyer, Ian Winter KC, cross-examined the women during the trial and asked them why they hadn’t run away or hit Brand, and why they had not reported the crimes earlier.
Domestic violence charities have criticised that line of questioning, saying it’s tantamout to victim blaming and such interrogations perpetuate harmful myths about abuse.
The four-week trial kicked off in September. The court heard that Brand had struggled to convince friends and former colleagues to provide evidence for him.
His wife, Laura Brand, 39, was one of the few who took the stand on 29 October to give evidence to his good character. The couple had first met when she was 19 and he 31.
She said Brand was a “wonderful father” and an “amazingly attentive husband”.
She said she had been aware of his infidelities and promiscuity. She said she had never felt sexually pressured by him.
“The way he treats me is to really know me, I feel very seen by him, in a way I’ve never experienced before. I love him very much.”
“We have a very frank, honest and clear relationship and marriage. It is one of the most important parts of our marriage, and our relationship has always been honest.”
Laura Brand has been in court most days at her husband’s rape trial, and arrived earlier for his sentencing.
Brand could face further charges
Following his conviction last week, the Met Police revealed that they were investigating further rape allegations against Brand, including one involving a then 16-year-old girl.
The Met said they had already questioned Brand on further complaints from two other women, and have submitted the files to crown prosecutors.
The lead detective in the case, Det Supt Andy Furphy, told the Guardian last week he believed there could be more victims.
If you get a conviction then it tends to encourage other people to come forward because they see the courage and the bravery and the resilience that these women have had to go through this criminal justice process, and they feel their own strength as a result of that. They want to come forward and have their story told.
The Met’s investigation into Brand, named Operation Actinolite, involved tracing and speaking to more than 100 witnesses, reviewing more than 1,400 documents and taking more than 340 statements, including from Brand’s former employers, colleagues and associates.
Brand has also been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his mansion in Los Angeles in 2008, in a civil claim filed at the high court in London.
Brand arrives in prison van for sentencing
The former actor-comedian was transported to Southwark Crown Court in a white prison van. He was held at HMP Wandsworth on the weekend.
His wife, Laura Brand, who has been a steadfast and loyal supporter by his side, has also just entered the court. She gave testimony on his behalf, attesting to his good character during the trial.
The couple have three young children together.
Brand denied bail after conviction
Photograph: James Manning/PA
The actor-comedian had been free but was taken into custody immediately after the jury returned the guilty verdicts last Thursday.
His defence lawyer Ian Winter KC had put in a plea for bail, arguing for Brand to have the weekend to say goodbye to his wife and three children.
But this was rejected by Justice Bennathan on the grounds that Brand, with his money and connections, posed a flight risk.
There were substantial grounds to “fear he might in the end not feel able to come along and face his sentence”, the judge said.
I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course.
But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.
Sitting in the courtroom last week, Brand had closed his eyes when the guilty verdict for the rape charge was read out. After his bail was denied, he gestured OK to his lawyers and repeated “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good”, before being taken away by guards.
Brand’s convictions
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours last week to return a unanimous verdict where they found Brand guilty on four of the seven charges.
He was found guilty of one count of rape and three incidents of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one attempted incident.
Brand had pleaded not guilty to all the offences, telling the court he believed he never had non-consensual sex.
But the jury found he had committed crimes against four women between 2004-2009 in different locations, in a central London bar, a radio station, recording studio and his former home in Hampstead, London.
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He was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a colleague’s birthday party in a bar in Soho, London in 2004, but found not guilty of orally raping her in a bathroom.
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He was found guilty of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005
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He was convicted of anally raping a fan at his home after meeting her backstage at one of his comedy shows in 2009
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He was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman who says the comedian demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin during an advert recording in 2009.
He was acquitted of raping another woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party annual conference in Bournemouth in 1999, and of attempting to indecently assault a woman by dragging her into the bathrooms in the London offices of MTV music channel.
Brand to be sentenced for rape and sexual assault today
Frances Mao
Good morning. Russell Brand will be sentenced today after being found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others in seperate incidents between 2004-2009.
The disgraced former comedian and Hollywood star has been behind bars since he was convicted by a jury last Thursday, denied bail by his trial judge who ruled that he posed a flight risk.
During the four-week trial, prosecutors had argued that Brand was a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator” who pursued women relentlessly and exploited his fame and power to get what he wanted from them sexually.
The 51-year-old father of three is now facing a “significant” prison term, Justice Joel Bennathan said last week.
The sentencing is taking place in Southwark Crown Court in London and commences at 10:30am GMT. I’ll bring you all the developments.
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