Russell Brand Sentenced to 10 Years and Six Months in Prison for Rape and Sexual Assault
Russell Brand, the British actor and comedian, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London on November 9 to 10 years and six months in prison. A jury last Thursday, November 5, convicted the 51-year-old of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, involving four women between 2004 and 2009.
Mr Justice Joel Bennathan imposed nine years for the rape count. The three sexual assault counts drew nine months, 18 months and eight months, to run concurrently with one another and consecutively to the rape sentence, for a total of 10 years and six months. Brand must serve two thirds of the sentence before he is eligible for release on licence. The judge reduced the rape sentence by a year, citing Brand's lack of previous convictions and the 17 years since his last offence.
The jury acquitted Brand of two other counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. The four-week trial heard that Brand raped a woman he met at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo and sexually assaulted female television and radio workers between 2004 and 2009. Brand had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Metropolitan Police said the investigation is ongoing and that allegations of rape by two more women are being investigated. Brand was remanded in custody after the verdict, spent the weekend at HMP Wandsworth, and begins his sentence immediately.
In his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Bennathan said Brand had become a "sexual predator" about 20 years ago, as he was starting to become famous, and showed a "casual, arrogant disregard of any woman's right to say no to you." He added that media reporting of the allegations had empowered a number of women to come forward. Prosecutors had argued for a category one sentence for the rape conviction, with a starting point of 12 years and a range of 10 to 15 years, and had sought one to four years for each of the three sexual assaults.
The four convictions were: groping an MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004; sexually assaulting a Choice FM worker at the Capital Radio studios in 2005; sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker who worked with him in 2009; and raping a 21-year-old fan days after meeting her at his 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo. Victim impact statements were read out at the sentencing hearing. The woman raped by Brand in 2009 said in her statement: "I am living with trauma and something I carry every day." Ian Winter KC, for the defence, said Brand's wife Laura was "totally devastated" by the verdicts and that the couple were working out how to explain what had happened to their 10-year-old child.
The Metropolitan Police said files on rape allegations made by two further women have been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service; one of the women says she was 16 when she dated Brand, who was then 30. Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who led the investigation, said the outcome was first and foremost a testament to the extraordinary courage of the women who came forward, that Brand had used his influence, status and fame to sexually offend against women, and: "I hope this conviction sends a clear message that no one is above the law, no matter how famous or powerful they may be." Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said his officers were braced for the possibility that many more victims could come forward.
Before the sentence was delivered, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk reposted on X a graphic comparing the prison term Brand could face with the sentence given to another convicted man, and commented: "Unjust." According to Page Six, the post came before the judge delivered the sentence. Rape carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in England and Wales. As of publication, Brand's side had not announced whether he would appeal against the sentence.
(Source: Southwark Crown Court)
Source: Southwark Crown Court
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Russell Brand 在 AmericaFest 活动上发言（资料图）。Xuthoria 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Russell Brand speaking at AmericaFest (file photo). By Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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