Russell Brand Sentenced to 10 Years and Six Months in Prison for Rape and Sexual Assaults

British comedian and actor Russell Brand was sentenced on Monday, 9 November, to 10 and a half years in prison for raping a woman in 2009 and sexually assaulting three other women.

Last week a jury of eight men and four women at Southwark Crown Court in south London found him guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was cleared of two further rape charges and one charge of attempted indecent assault. The offences he was convicted of include groping a woman at a London bar in 2004, sexually assaulting a woman at a London radio station in 2004 and 2005, and raping a woman at his home in west London in 2009.

Six women had brought allegations against him covering the period from 1999 to 2009. Before the sentence was announced, victim impact statements were read in court, three by the prosecutor and one by a complainant who spoke from behind a screen.

Brand had pleaded not guilty to all charges. During the trial he admitted to a promiscuous past but said he had never forced anyone, and suggested the case was part of a campaign against him. His barrister, Ian Winter KC, told the court that Brand was a fundamentally different person today from the man who committed the rape 17 years ago.

Judge Joel Bennathan had refused him bail after the verdict, so Brand remained in custody until sentencing. After the verdicts, the BBC reported that police were examining further rape allegations made by two other women.

Featured image: London Southwark Crown Court (50604622932).jpg by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

• CBS News — Russell Brand sentenced to 10 years, 6 months in prison for rape and sexual assault