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Russell Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Monday after a judge praised his victims’ bravery and accused him of living “unhindered by the rules by which decent people live”.
As the judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, sentenced Brand for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, he said he had told the trial “a series of lies”. The disgraced comedian had displayed a “casual, arrogant disregard of any woman’s right to say no”, he said.
“About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, 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.
“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.”
Brand’s sentencing, the culmination of a four-week trial at Southwark crown court, came after the four women described the impact of his crimes on their lives in victim impact statements. A woman who was raped by Brand said the attack had had lasting consequences.
“Even now, I feel that I am living with the trauma of what happened,” she said. “It is something I carry with me every day and it often feels never-ending.”
Brand, 51, appeared emotionless as he was jailed, but told his wife, Laura: “We’ll be OK,” as he was taken downstairs by the dock officers. His wife replied: “I love you,” before leaving the court in tears.
The disgraced comedian was convicted on Thursday of raping a 21-year-old fan and sexually assaulting three women in separate incidents between 2004 and 2009. He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.
After his convictions, the Metropolitan police revealed that Brand was under investigation over two further rape allegations.
On Monday, the judge praised the bravery of the women in the case. He also criticised Brand’s “staggering arrogance” before sentencing him to 10-and-a-half years in prison.
In his sentencing remarks, which were broadcast live, Bennathan told Brand: “I pause to pay tribute to the determination and bravery of all the women whose evidence I have been recounting. I do not increase your punishment because of it, but all those women had to face being confronted and being told they had lied, or twisted the truth and, or, they had agreed to your sexual demands: that was all done because of you, on your instructions.”
The judge said Brand had felt “entitled” to grab the breasts of his earliest victim, an MTV worker, at a birthday party in Soho, London, in 2004, because she had wanted to be introduced to him.
“In your trial you said you had never touched a woman sexually without her consent, and that included this woman. In the light of the jury’s verdicts, that was one of a series of lies you told,” the judge said.
The woman told the court that she was “extremely upset and traumatised” and felt “vulnerable” after the assault.
“There were many times I felt visibly sick at the sight of him parading around thinking he can get away with anything,” she said in her statement.
Brand’s second victim told the court that he had laughed after “mauling” her by squeezing her breasts and kissing her sloppily while she was working at the radio station Choice FM in 2004 or 2005. She said he overpowered her during the “violent” and “frenzied” attack, which took place in front of his entourage.
The judge said: “No doubt your companions thought it was outrageous laddish behaviour that only you could get away with. It was outrageous and possibly laddish, but also a criminal sexual offence, and as it turns out you haven’t got away with it.”
The judge said Brand was happy to exploit the fact that his youngest victim was a fan and showed his contempt for her by storing her number alongside the letter T for “tart”.
The woman told the court she had felt “anxious, humiliated and overwhelmed” after Brand anally raped her without a condom at his London townhouse. She was 21 when Brand picked her from a crowd after one of his performances at the Hammersmith Apollo in early 2009.
“I struggled to eat and sleep, and I found it difficult to cope with my emotions. The impact was so significant that I had to take time away from work, and for a period I returned to live with my parents because I did not feel safe,” she said in a victim impact statement.
The judge’s said Brand’s final offence showed his “staggering arrogance” and how his entourage indulged his “dreadful behaviour”.
Brand sexually assaulted the woman in front of his entourage during a filming project at Channel 4 in 2009 when he placed his head in her lap after she was forced to give him a massage.
The judge said: “The whole episode reeks of casual disrespect and your belief that fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked, unhindered by the rules by which decent people live.”
Earlier Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC, said the former TV personality was a “fundamentally different person today” and was not “in general terms, a rapist”.
In his submissions, he claimed: “This should be regarded as a man who went too far and overrode consent that had been given.”
There was also a submission in support of Brand from Andrew Sachs’s granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, who was at the centre of a 2008 scandal when Brand and Jonathan Ross put out a Radio 2 segment in which they left Sachs a voicemail claiming that she had been sleeping with Brand.
Winter said Baillie was among six people submitting character references, and said she had been sober for the last six years, and Brand supported her and paid for her to go into rehab for alcohol addiction.
Winter also told the court that Brand’s wife was standing by him before adding: “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.”
But in his remarks, the judge told Brand: “I am also very conscious that your imprisonment will deprive your children of the presence of their father: that sad loss to them, however, is caused by your serious offending.”
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
