Russell Brand jailed for 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assault
British comedian Russell Brand has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Russell Brand sentenced to 10 years and six months at Southwark Crown Court
British comedian Russell Brand has been sentenced to ten years and six months in prison for rape and sexual assault, npr.org reports. Judge Justice Bennathan handed down the sentence at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday.
A jury found Brand, 51, guilty last week on four of the seven counts brought against him. He was convicted of raping a woman he had met at one of his shows in 2009, and of sexually assaulting three other women — at a bar, a radio station and a TV studio — between 2004 and 2009. Brand denies all charges and has maintained he never had non-consensual sex.
Over four weeks, six women testified against Brand during a trial that drew extensive media coverage. The case was not televised, and none of the complainants have been publicly named.
Before sentencing, four of the women who brought the case against Brand gave victim impact statements to the court. Three were read out by the prosecution; one woman appeared in person from behind a curtain to deliver her own.
The complainant Brand was found guilty of anally raping at his home in 2009 described the lasting toll of the assault. "It's something I carry with me every day and it often feels never-ending," her statement read. She added that because of Brand's fame, she had not believed she would be taken seriously if she came forward.
A second complainant, who Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting at a bar in 2004 when he grabbed her breasts, said the uncertainty over what she "should" or "could" do had stayed with her for more than 20 years. Speaking in person from behind the courtroom curtain, she said she felt "physically sick" each time she saw Brand in the press as his public profile grew.
A third victim, assaulted in 2005, said the incident had "a lasting impact on her life" and that over the years "hearing his voice on television or seeing his image has made me jump." A fourth woman, assaulted while the two worked together at a TV studio, said she felt her working environment was unsafe in its aftermath.
Brand had spent the weekend in prison before the sentencing hearing. British media present in court reported he was wearing the suit he had on when convicted on Thursday and sat holding a set of white rosary beads as the victim statements were read. His wife Laura, who had attended throughout the trial, was in court, as was his father.
Following the victim statements, the defence and prosecution each made closing submissions. The prosecution argued for a lengthy custodial term, citing aggravating factors in the rape case — including Brand removing a condom. The defence contended that Brand was "a fundamentally different person" from who he had been at the time of the offences.
Sentencing on camera, Judge Justice Bennathan said Brand had become "a sexual predator" and paused to pay tribute to "the determination and bravery" of the women who had come forward. He then ordered Brand to be taken down to the cells.
Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a stand-up comedian and MTV host before reinventing himself as a left-leaning political commentator and, more recently, as a conspiracy theorist and Christian convert with a significant following on the American right. Critics had long argued that a thread of misogyny ran through his comedy, and that his treatment of women had been an open secret in British media circles for years.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)