Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault after lengthy trial

Russell Brand has been found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of one rape and three counts of sexual assault in total during his career.

Brand has been found not guilty of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.

The jury also found him not guilty of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.

He is guilty of groping another MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to orally rape her in a toilet.

Jurors also found Brand guilty of sexually assaulting a Capital Radio worker after encountering her in a corridor in 2005.

He was also found guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo.

And Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker during a forced massage in 2009.

The 51-year-old denied all three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.

After the verdict, Mr Justice Bennathan said: “Sit down, Mr Brand.

“Mr Winter, Ms Karmy-Jones, just on what happens next given the verdict on count six at least, obviously a custodial sentence of some length will result.”

Mr Justice Bennathan said: “You’ve been convicted of several offences including rape.

“The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term.

“My current view is that I therefore have to remand you into custody.”

During the trial’s opening, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC described the defendant as a “ruthless, calculated and manipulative” predator who raped and groped women to satisfy his sexual appetite.

She alleged he was was “obsessed” with sex and treated women as a “means to an end”, and was “child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met”.

In her closing speech, Ms Karmy-Jones KC said Brand liked to exercise “control” over the women, and felt “disdain” towards them as he pursued his goal of sleeping with 5,000 women.

She said women were “disposable” and a “means to an end” to the television personality.

During his evidence, Brand said consent during sex is “fundamental” and suggested to him it is “more important that the sex itself”.

He denied having a “goal” to sleep with 5,000 women and while he admitted he was “obsessed” with sex in his younger years, he denied the extent of the impact on his life.

When the individual claims were put to him, and he was asked if he had raped and sexually assaulted the women, Brand repeatedly said the word “no”.

In his closing speech, Ian Winter KC urged the jury to separate Brand’s sexual behaviour and treatment of women from the question of whether he committed crimes.

He said it is “not criminal to treat women unkindly before, during or after sex”, adding that if there is consent then “it is lawful”.