Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and sexual assault, and is now expected to face a substantial prison sentence. A jury found the entertainer guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, following a three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. He was found not guilty of two other counts of rape, and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The jury deliberated for eight and a half hours. Brand was taken into custody after the verdicts were delivered, and was refused bail. He is due to be sentenced on Monday.
It can now be reported that Brand is also facing further rape allegations made by two women. In the trial, Brand faced allegations from six women spanning the decade between 1999 and 2009, as he rose to fame as one of Britain's most high-profile entertainers. The women came to court to reveal how Brand used his immense fame to force them into sexual activity.
Brand, who told his wife Laura Gallacher "I love you" after entering the dock, displayed no emotion as the jury delivered its verdicts, at the end of a trial that lasted nearly four weeks. After the verdicts, Brand mouthed "I'm good, I'm good" to his defence counsel as he left the dock. His walk was steadily paced, and he continued to show little emotion.
The judge told Brand to expect "a significant custodial term" after the verdicts were delivered. The jury found Brand guilty of groping an MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to rape her in a toilet. Brand was found guilty of raping a fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo.
He was convicted of kissing and groping a Choice FM worker after encountering her in a corridor at the Capital Radio building in 2004 or 2005. Brand was also convicted by the jury of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker in 2009 when she had been forced to give him a massage. Brand was found not guilty by the jury of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.
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