Russell Brand showed no emotion today as he was jailed for 10 years and six months for raping a fan and sexually assaulting three other women at the height of his fame.
The disgraced comedian and former Hollywood star, 51, will be moved to a prison for sex offenders amid reports he has spent his first three days behind bars cowering in his cell at HMP Wandsworth.
He mouthed ‘I love you’ to his wife, Laura Gallacher, as he was jailed and taken from the dock.
Sexual predator Brand believed he could commit offences ‘with impunity’ and abused the fame, influence and power he wielded to satisfy his ‘voracious’ and violent appetite for gratification.
Jailing him, Mr Justice Bennathan told him he had become a dangerous ‘sexual predator’ when he became famous.
‘You were clever – and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic. You had also become a sexual predator,’ he said.
He added that Brand had ‘a casual and arrogant disregard for a woman’s right to say no to you’, adding: ‘Fame meant you thought you could act how you like, when you like.’
Mr Justice Bennathan then praised the bravery of the women who gave evidence before passing his sentence.
Brand showed no emotion as he was jailed for 10 years and six months, but told his wife ‘we’ll be OK’ as he was taken downstairs by the dock officers. The couple shared a brief conversation before the shamed comedian was taken downstairs.
Even before his conviction, Brand’s openly misogynistic and sexualised behaviour did not deter some of the Left’s most prominent figures from associating with him. There are also troubling questions for the BBC, Channel 4 and MTV to answer as one TV worker said her case was ‘swept under the carpet.’
Brand had raped a young woman until she bled and attacked three female strangers, in some cases within seconds of meeting them at the height of his fame, including ‘very shortly after he met Katy Perry’, the court heard on Monday.
Talking of Brand’s rape victim, Mr Justice Bennathan said: ‘If anyone still needs any demonstration for your contempt for your casual sexual partners, you stored her number under ‘T’ for tart.
‘You invited her to your house a few days later, you put on a condom at her request and had vaginal sex to which she consented. You then flipped her over, removed the condom and without asking forced your penis into her anus causing her great pain.
‘She asked you to stop, then asked you again loudly, you replied – and I quote – ‘I want you to feel my c*m’ – you ejaculated, she was distraught and in severe pain, the bed was heavily soiled.
‘You told her it was her mess and made her try to clear it up, thereafter you got up to get ready and went to work.’
Laura Gallacher sat behind her husband in the dock and he turned and told her: ‘It’ll be OK, I don’t know how, but it will’ as he arrived
Brand was heard praying and clutching a crucifix around his neck as he listened impassively to the victims’ evidence
Gallacher arrives at Southwark Crown Court with a friend to see her husband jailed today
Russell Brand with his wife Laura Gallacher at Southwark Crown Court last Thursday morning, hours before he was convicted
Brand’s barrister had earlier insisted his client was ‘fundamentally a different person’ now and questioned the vulnerability of some of the women he abused. But in a moving statement, one victim told the judge: ‘A leopard may change its spots, but it’s still a leopard.’
Brand was heard praying and clutching a crucifix around his neck as he listened impassively to the victims’ evidence.
His wife, Laura Gallacher, whose friends fear she has been ‘brainwashed’ by her husband, appeared upset as he was jailed.
Brand had earlier prayed loudly and told his loyal and ‘devastated’ wife: ‘It’ll be OK. I don’t know how, but it will,’ as he arrived in court for the sentencing hearing.
Laura exclaimed, ‘Oh God’, as her husband was led into the dock at Southwark Crown Court before telling him: ‘I love you.’
Ms Gallacher also gave supporters a thumbs-up as she arrived to back her husband.
Brand, wearing a dark grey suit, black waistcoat and white shirt, smiled as two prison officers escorted him into the dock. He immediately caught his wife’s eye and asked: ‘Are you OK?’ Laura smiled and nodded.
Brand replied: ‘It’ll be OK, I don’t know how, but it will’, before taking a long look at his family and friends seated behind him in the public gallery.
His KC Ian Winter later said Laura is ‘standing by him’ but is suffering ‘total devastation’ in her life.
He said: ‘Words are completely inadequate… to convey the total devastation she’s experiencing. They are wrestling with how to explain to a child who’s just turned 10 what has just happened here and the consequences of this conduct to totally innocent people who have been caught up in it.’
The couple continued exchanging nods as the judge outlined how the sentencing hearing would proceed. Behind Brand, a member of his entourage held a Bible with several passages highlighted.
Brand’s wife, the mother of his three children, arrived at court with a friend after he was found guilty of raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three women during his showbusiness heyday.
She was seen shaking her head as Brand’s victims described the devastating impact of his crimes and how they felt frightened and traumatised whenever they saw him on television in the years that followed.
Brand stared straight ahead as the woman he raped told the court she feared she had contracted HIV after he removed his condom and anally raped her.
The disgraced former comedian was also seen clutching a crucifix, making the sign of the cross and praying as one of his victims entered court to deliver a victim impact statement.
His barrister Ian Winter KC, told the court his client ‘is a fundamentally different person today’, he was ‘extraordinarily famous’ at the time and the final offence ‘happened very shortly after he met Katy Perry’.
The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, stepped in and said: ‘To say ‘He got away with it for 17 years’ is not necessarily a huge piece of mitigation, is it?’
Winter then urged the judge to ‘temper’ his sentencing, describing Brand as ‘a man of effectively good character’, and then questioned the vulnerability of several of his victims.
Russell Brand winked and then nodded at his wife and members of his entourage while clutching a crucifix in his hands as his sentencing hearing was paused for lunch.
It came as sources close to Laura’s family told The Mail on Sunday of their deep concern for her wellbeing. They claimed she had been ‘totally brainwashed’ by Brand into believing he was innocent of the serious crimes for which he has now been convicted.
The Mail has also discovered that Brand may have begun trying to move one of his biggest assets six weeks before his conviction for rape and sexual assault. Land Registry documents suggest he has applied to transfer ownership of his £5million Oxfordshire cottage to his wife, Laura, 39.
Brand is said to have been petrified and left cowering in his cell after three nights in HMP Wandsworth. He is expected to be moved to a prison specialising in male sex offenders, with HMP Littlehey, HMP Whatton and HMP Rye Hill among the possible destinations.
Laura was supported by a friend as she arrived in a black Mercedes
Ron Brand, Russell’s father, was also at court to support his son
Brand, 51, preyed on women he encountered while becoming one of Britain’s best-known stand-up comedians, a lauded TV and radio host, and a Hollywood film star.
More women are now expected to come forward, and the CPS is considering whether to bring further charges, including two alleged rapes, one involving a 16-year-old girl.
Brand raped a 21-year-old fan he picked out of the crowd after one of his Hammersmith Apollo gigs in 2009.
Brand, then 33, pushed the woman face down into a pillow on his ‘enormous’ bed and removed his condom while raping her at his £2.3million Hampstead mansion, leaving her struggling to breathe.
She was left bleeding from her anus and afterwards said Brand ordered her to ‘clean up the mess you’ve made’ before switching on the TV to watch the science-fiction series Quantum Leap.
The woman tried to clear up before being ushered out by a member of staff. A driver then handed her tissues as he took her home. Fearing she had contracted HIV, she underwent tests, which came back negative.
After just eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations, jurors also convicted him of the 2009 rape and sexual assault of an MTV worker at a party in a Soho bar in 2004. But they cleared him of orally raping her in a toilet afterwards.
They also found Brand, a born-again Christian who said he wore the ‘full armour of God’ in court, guilty of sexually assaulting a Capital Radio worker after encountering her in a corridor in 2005.
He was further convicted of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 employee during a forced massage in 2009. He was cleared of two charges of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.
The court first heard a victim impact statement from a woman who was sexually assaulted by Brand in a Soho bar in 2004.
The victim, who delivered her statement live in court from behind a protective curtain, said: ‘I wanted to express how this crime has affected me over the years.
‘When it happened, I was in complete shock and turmoil for weeks trying to process what had happened to me.
‘I was extremely upset and traumatised.
‘It really affected how I viewed myself, I didn’t have any respect for myself and got into situations with toxic men as I didn’t have any self-worth.
‘I literally lost any love for myself for a long time thinking that I was damaged goods.’
She concluded her statement by saying: ‘I felt like my life was on hold for all of that time waiting my time to speak out about what happened to me.’
She concluded with something she said she had ‘read the other day’.
The woman told the court: ‘As they say a leopard may change its spots but at the end of the day it’s still a leopard and not a gazelle.’
The Capital Radio worker said in her statement that Brand’s offending ‘has had a lasting impact on my life even if I thought that I had successfully buried what happened.’
In a victim impact read to Southwark Crown Court, she said: ‘Since the sexual assault carried out by him in 2005, Russell Brand has managed to move on and even forget.
‘This has had a lasting impact on my life even if I thought that I had successfully buried what happened. I had a strong adverse reaction, especially to his voice.’
Brand arrives in security van at Southwark Crown Court from HMP Wandsworth this morning
The incident impacted her work but she ‘tried for so long to be strong and carry on – business as usual’.
She added: ‘However, over the years hearing his voice on television, on social media or seeing his image made me jump.’
The woman’s statement continued: ‘Hearing some refusing to accept that men in the public eye could be guilty of committing such offences left me upset and angry.
‘I couldn’t articulate to them that this had happened to me too.’
Her statement said that she was advised to seek therapy for ‘serious anxiety’.
She added: ‘This was the period when the allegations against Russell Brand were in the media and being investigated.
‘It was the first time in 20 years that I had spoken to anyone about what had happened.’
Russell Brand’s rape victim’s statement was the next to be read by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, with the woman saying: ‘The defendant’s public profile had a significant impact on me – because of who he was and the influence he held, I did not feel confident speaking openly about what had happened.
‘I did not know who I could trust or confide in. I felt that if I reported him, I would not be believed.
‘His fame, wealth and influence created a power imbalance which made me feel powerless.
‘I did not have the confidence to challenge someone who appeared so powerful, rich and influential.
‘His public profile meant that he remained present in my life even when I wanted to move on.
‘I would regularly encounter references to him in the media, which made it difficult to escape reminders of what had happened.’
She added: ‘When I eventually reported what had happened, it was not simply because of the media documentary.
‘By that stage I had become aware of the police investigation and felt that I was finally in a stronger position mentally to disclose my experience.
‘Reporting what happened was something I had hoped I would eventually be able to do, but it took a long time to reach that point.’
Brand’s rape victim’s statement continued to be read as Brand continued to look straight ahead.
It continued: ‘The investigation and criminal justice process have been extremely difficult.
‘Providing personal records and access to my mobile phone felt highly intrusive, and at times I felt as though I was the person being scrutinised and interrogated.
‘Every update regarding the case brought back memories of the incident and felt like reopening old wounds.
‘Rather than allowing me to move forward, updates often pulled me back into a painful period of my life.
‘I have also been very anxious about attending court and being cross-examined.
‘The thought of personal details being discussed publicly has caused me significant distress.’
Prosecution barrister Mr Karmy-Jones KC told the court ‘in terms of harm this is a case where the offence falls into category 1, we submit there has been an extreme impact’ caused by a combination of features.
These features included ‘severe psychological harm’, despite the victim accepting that there were other factors that had an affect on her life beyond Brand.
The harm included her fear of HIV infection ‘particularly as Mr Brand removed the condom without consent during the course of the anal rape’.
The rape victim said: ‘It remains a significant part of my life and continues to influence how I view myself, my relationships and my future.
‘I hope the court can understand the lasting and far-reaching effect this offence has had on me and the impact that continues to have on me to this day.’
An MTV worker who was sexually assaulted by Brand while he was filming for a project in 2009, said the incident ‘opened my eyes up in a bad way’.
Her statement, also read by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, said: ‘Following the incident with Russell Brand I was really upset.
‘I was wary and on my toes about something similar happening again.
‘I felt I lost my trust in people and felt that my working environment wasn’t safe.
‘From that point onwards I made sure that I wasn’t sitting in a room alone and consciously made sure I had a colleague with me in a professional environment.
‘It opened my eyes up in a bad way.’
Ian Winter KC said the rape incident should only be ‘regarded as a man who went too far’.
In his submissions, the defence barrister said: ‘This should be regarded as a man who went too far and overrode consent that had been given.’ He added: ‘There was no planning, there was no pre-meditation.’
Mr Justice Bennathan interjected and said there had been no suggestion there was any pre-meditation to the rape.
Ian Winter KC told Southwark Crown Court that it took place as ‘he started to become very famous and then extraordinarily famous, and we would invite your lordship to conclude that his behaviour for these offences are connected and the consequence of that level of fame.’
He pointed out that the final offence ‘happened very shortly after he met Katy Perry’.
Russell Brand’s barrister said a woman whose breasts were groped by the celebrity at a Soho bar in 2004 was ‘not particularly vulnerable’.
Mitigating for the disgraced celebrity, Ian Winter KC, told the court: ‘She was not particularly vulnerable at all.
‘Being tipsy is not something that gave rise to vulnerability and there’s no evidence the defendant knew she was tipsy so to be vulnerable.’
Mr Winter said the incident falls at the bottom of culpability under sentencing guidelines as it was a ‘very, very short incident’.
The KC then told the court that the granddaughter of the late actor Andrew Sachs has given a character statement in support of Brand.
After listing Brand’s work in support of addiction charities, he said that ‘there are a large number of people who had come forward to ask and provide us with statements’ but ‘those people were not prepared in the main to have their names entered into this process, which is completely understandable’.
He added: ‘But I can tell your lordship that a lot of people have been helped in very, very often life-saving ways by Mr Brand’s care for them and personal time spent helping them.
‘And your lordship in that regard will have seen the statement of Ms Georgina Baillie, who was an alcoholic and now has been sober for six years because Mr Brand both persuaded her, then paid for her to go through rehabilitation.’
He said that Ms Baillie has put her name to a witness statement to the court and Mr Winter described her has ‘the granddaughter of the late, I would say great actor Andrew Sachs – she is the person right at the eye of the Sachsgate storm for which Mr Brand was rightly, and he accepted, rightly pilloried for, for what he said was a disgraceful prank on live radio.’
His victims had come to court to reveal how Brand had forced them into sexual activity, sometimes within seconds of them first meeting, using his fame to determinedly pursue a goal of sex with 5,000 women.
Southwark Crown Court heard how Brand, who once boasted he would not relent in his pursuit of sex before getting his ‘birthright orgasm’, ignored pleas from women for him to stop.
Six women gave evidence against Brand, while the former comedian, who was once married to Katy Perry, could not persuade any of his celebrity friends or former showbiz colleagues to give evidence in his defence.
Last Thursday, a jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.
Brand displayed no emotion as he was found guilty, other than to close his eyes when the guilty verdict on the rape charge was announced.
He loudly replied ‘yes My Lord’ when he was remanded into custody, having been told he will receive a lengthy custodial sentence.
Before entering the dock to hear the verdicts, Brand said ‘I love you’ to his wife Laura Gallacher, the daughter of Ryder Cup winning golfer Bernard Gallacher.
Ms Gallacher was seen to hunch over in the public gallery when Brand was told he now faces an inevitable prison term.
His barrister, Ian Winter KC, made a plea for Brand to be given bail over the weekend as an ‘act of humanity’ so that he could say goodbye to his children, but the judge refused over fears that he would flee instead of returning to court.
Brand’s sentencing today comes just over three years after he was first exposed as a rapist and sexual predator.
The Met has also confirmed investigations are ongoing into two allegations of rape made against Brand.
At pre-trial court hearings, it was revealed one of the complaints comes from a woman who dated Brand when he was 30 and she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
More women came forward to police after Brand was first accused, and prosecutors are assessing whether to bring further charges.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he expected more victims to come forward.
In September 2023, an investigation by journalists from The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches published accusations from women who said they had been raped, sexually abused, and degraded by Brand.
The revelations prompted four women to come forward to accuse Brand of criminal offences, while another two women came forward once Brand had been charged.
At the height of his success, Brand was named ‘S***ger Of The Year’ three times in a row by The Sun newspaper as his behaviour towards women was accepted and even celebrated.
But evidence at his criminal trial revealed Brand to be a man who abused his fame to obtain sex while treating women as objects, while his entourage and showbiz bosses faced accusations of ‘normalising’ sexual misconduct and failing to act on complaints against the star.
