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 2005-2009.
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
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
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 2005-2009 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 2005-2009.
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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