Russell Brand arrived at Southwark Crown Court on Monday morning to be sentenced for rape and sexual assault, according to The Irish Times. The 51-year-old comedian and actor was convicted last Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. A prison van carrying him reached the court shortly after 10am, and a judge was expected to set out his prison term after hearing statements from the women he attacked.
Brand sat in the dock in a grey suit and a white shirt worn open at the collar. The Irish Times reports that he turned several times towards his wife, Laura Gallacher, who was watching from the public gallery. Gallacher had arrived earlier in the morning wearing sunglasses, a blazer and a polo neck jumper.
Why it matters
The case ends the public career of a man who was once among Britain's most recognisable broadcasters and a star of Hollywood films. It also rests heavily on testimony from women who said his fame and power made it harder for them to be heard at the time. Several described carrying the effects of his behaviour for two decades, and their statements in court placed that long silence at the centre of Monday's hearing.
Victims describe a predator and lasting damage
One woman read her impact statement in person from behind a screen. She told the court that Brand sexually assaulted her in 2004 and later orally raped her; the jury convicted him of the assault but cleared him of the rape charge. She said she had been in shock and turmoil for weeks after the attack, and that a sense of shame she did not deserve had stayed with her for more than 20 years, according to The Irish Times.
Another woman, assaulted by Brand in 2004 or 2005, called him a sexual predator who has shown no remorse. A third, whom he anally raped in 2009, said his high profile made it hard to get away from reminders of what he had done.
What the four-week trial heard
The jury at Southwark Crown Court convicted Brand of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009. The woman had met him after a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo and later went to his Hampstead home, where what began as a consensual encounter became rape when he forced her into anal sex.
He was also convicted over an incident at the Nordic bar in Soho in 2004, where he groped a woman's breasts seconds after being introduced to her at a party. She recalled a strange grin on his face as he grabbed her in the crowded bar.
In 2005 he kissed and groped another woman at the Capital Radio studios in London as she came out of a room. She looked to his entourage for help and found none before pushing him away.
A fourth conviction concerned a Channel 4 worker in 2009. Brand put his head into her groin after she had been made to massage him; the court heard he refused to carry on a recording session unless she did so, and that members of his team encouraged it rather than stepping in.
Brand was cleared of two further rape charges and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.
During the trial, prosecutors confronted him with passages from his 2007 book, My Booky Wook, including a boast that he would not stop pursuing sex before getting what he called his birthright orgasm. Brand maintained that every sexual encounter in his life had been consensual, describing a promiscuous past full of foolishness but nothing unlawful. He also claimed he was the target of a media conspiracy.
Friends and former colleagues gave evidence about his stated ambition to sleep with 5,000 women, what was described as an extreme sexual appetite, and behaviour towards women that became normalised as his fame grew. The court heard he would kiss and grope women within seconds of meeting them and later laugh at or gaslight them.
A career built in plain sight
The trial traced Brand's path from rising comedian to one of Britain's best-known television and radio hosts and then a Hollywood actor. He was briefly married to the singer Katy Perry. The Irish Times notes that he was last seen mouthing "I'm okay" to his lawyers before being taken to the cells after the verdicts, while Gallacher left the court in tears.
Outside the court on Monday, a supporter of Brand held a large banner covered in Christian crosses and shouted that he was being "crucified" for exposing the media, as the prison van turned towards the gate. Gallacher appeared to turn and give a thumbs up in the direction of the protester.
The judge is expected to announce the length of Brand's sentence on Monday, and he will then begin serving it.
