Brand speaking at a rally in London in 2014 [DB Young]

RUSSELL Brand was told today (Monday) that he will spend at least six years in prison after being convicted of rape in Hampstead and sexual assault.

The 51-year-old comedian and actor learned that he must serve at least two thirds of a sentence of ten years and six months handed down at Southwark Crown Court. He had been convicted one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault following a four-week trial. He was cleared of two further rape charges and one of attempted indecent assault. The offences, against four women, took place between 2004 and 2009.

The rape conviction centres on an incident in early 2009 at Brand’s three-storey property on Gardnor Road in Hampstead Village. The victim, then a 21-year-old fan, had met Brand after one of his stand-up shows at the Hammersmith Apollo. She engaged in consensual sexual activity with him backstage before later agreeing to go to his Hampstead home, knowing they would have sex.

According to evidence played to the jury from her police interview, the encounter began as consensual vaginal sex. She said it became rape when Brand initiated anal sex without warning or consent and continued despite her repeated pleas for him to stop. She told police she “couldn’t speak or breathe” because of the pain. Afterwards, she said, Brand looked “horrified” but instead of apologising told her: “You need to clear up the mess you’ve made.”

Jurors were shown photographs of the Hampstead property, which featured dark, gothic-style décor, black furnishings, a large bed, a framed crucifix, a stag’s skull in the living room, and other distinctive details. Brand sold the house the following year for around £2.3 million. He denied the allegation, maintaining that all sexual encounters were consensual and that some accounts had been reimagined after media reporting in 2023.

Mr Justice Joel Bennathan, a High Court judge sitting at Southwark Crown Court, told Brand’s claim that he had “never touched a woman without her consent” was one of a “series of lies” he had told.

Senior Crown Prosecutor David Roberts of the CPS London Rape and Serious Sexual Assault Unit described Brand as predatory, saying he “used his celebrity status to commit sexual crimes.”

Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of the Metropolitan Police, who led the investigation, paid tribute to the courage of the women who came forward. Brand has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on Monday 9 November.

The case arose from allegations first reported in September 2023 by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times. Detectives established a dedicated team, traced more than 100 witnesses, took more than 400 statements and reviewed over 1,400 documents. Brand faced seven charges in total relating to six women, spanning a decade from 1999 as his career rose from stand-up comedy to television and Hollywood films.

Other convictions included sexually assaulting a woman by grabbing her breasts at a bar in central London in 2004, kissing and groping another woman at her workplace in 2004 or 2005, and sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker during a filming project in 2009 after demanding a massage.

He was acquitted of raping a woman in a hotel room during the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, of oral rape in a London bar toilet in 2004, and of attempted indecent assault involving an MTV worker in 2001.

Prosecutors told the court Brand was “ruthless, calculating and manipulative,” with a “voracious” sexual appetite, and that he treated women as a “disposable commodity.”

They said the six complainants did not know one another and came forward independently.

Brand, who has previously spoken openly about his past promiscuity and sex addiction, told police he had never engaged in non-consensual activity. He gave evidence in his defence, describing the impact of the allegations as devastating and saying he struggled to find witnesses willing to support him after the 2023 media reports.

It has reported since the end of the trial that Brand remains under investigation for further rape allegations involving two additional women, with files submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. Police have said more victims may come forward following the verdicts.