Met Commissioner calls for more Russell Brand victims to come forward after rape conviction
Scotland Yard chief Mark Rowley says he would not be surprised if "many more" victims emerge. Brand, 51, was convicted of rape and sexual assault on Thursday.
Scotland Yard urges further Brand victims to report allegations
The Guardian UK reports that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has publicly called on anyone with fresh allegations against Russell Brand to come forward, following the former comedian's conviction for rape and sexual assault on Thursday.
Rowley told Times Radio on Friday that two further rape allegations against Brand are already under investigation. "There's two more rape allegations that we're looking at," he said. "We're encouraging anybody else to come forward if there's any other allegations." He later told BBC Breakfast: "I clearly wouldn't be surprised if many more came forward."
Brand, 51, was described during his trial as a ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator. A jury convicted him of raping a woman at his luxury London townhouse and of sexually assaulting three women at their workplaces — including at a radio station and a television studio — in front of his entourage. The Met has already submitted files to the Crown Prosecution Service relating to the two additional rape allegations.
The conviction followed a 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, alongside investigations published by The Times and The Sunday Times, which first aired allegations against him.
Dorothy Byrne, a former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 who has spoken publicly about her own experience of sexual assault, highlighted the power imbalance that often silences victims in the media industry. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "Things are a lot better, particularly in large organisations. But I think that there are still young women, and I may say young men, at risk in smaller organisations — there is such a disparity in power between the talent who's seen as absolutely key to the success of the programme and a young person who will be on a very short-term contract and will fear that if she speaks out, she may not be invited back and will be seen as a troublemaker in the industry."
Byrne said she hoped the Brand case could prove to be a "turning point". "I think there will be some men who have behaved badly who will be feeling frightened today," she added, "because they've seen here really brave young women come forward to the police and make a complaint."
Source: The Guardian UK