Russell Brand found guilty of s*xual assault and rape, sentence pending

Russell Brand has been found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of s*xual assault. He faced a jury trial at London's Southwark Crown Court that lasted approximately four weeks. After two days of deliberations, the jury declared Brand guilty of four out of seven charges.

Russell Brand was accused of seven criminal charges involving six different female complainants for incidents that spanned between 1999 and 2009. He is yet to receive his sentence.

All charges against Russell Brand

Russell Brand was charged with three counts of rape, three counts of s*xual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault. The last charge was reduced from indecent assault during the trial. Brand had denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty. Both Russell Brand and his wife, Laura Brand presented evidence in the case.

In 2023, a Channel 4 documentary titled Dispatches: Russell Brand - In Plain Sight was released. It is an investigative documentary that covered the serious allegations of s*xual misconduct, emotional abuse, and predatory behavior made by multiple women against Russell Brand.

After the documentary came out, six different women separately approached the police to report s*xual assaults and rape charges against Brand. They claimed that they had previously stayed silent out of fear, shame, or the belief that they would not be believed against such a major celebrity.

As Deadline reports, during the trial, Brand's defense claimed that the documentary had damaged Brand's reputation before he had the opportunity to defend himself. The exact words the defense used were:

“poisoned the well of justice deliberately”

Moreover, Brand’s defense claimed that the documentary had deliberately prejudiced the pursuit of justice and severely undermined his accusers’ credibility.

The prosecution argued that the documentary was not something magical that made six different women alter their account of what they had faced. Instead, it was what made them brave enough to speak out against Brand.

The complainants' identities have been kept anonymous, and that will be maintained forever. According to Deadline, Complainant 1 accused Brand of raping her at a hotel in 1999. For this charge, Brand was found not guilty. Complainant 2 accused him of attempted indecent assault in an MTV toilet. Brand was found not guilty of this charge.

Complainant 3 accused him of s*xually assaulting her in a bar in 2004, for which Brand was found guilty. Complainant 3 also accused Brand of raping her at the same bar in 2004, of which he was not found guilty.

Complainant 4 accused him of s*xually assaulting her at a radio station, for which Brand was found guilty. Complainant 5 accused Brand of rape that occurred at his home. Brand has been found guilty for this charge. Complainant 6 accused him of s*xually assaulting her at work, for which he has been found guilty.

The judge in Brand's case, Mr. Justice Bennathan, speaking to Brand, described his impending sentence as: