Russell Brand Faces 7 Sex-Offense Charges as London Trial Opens With 6 Accusers
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Oct 14
Russell Brand Faces 7 Sex-Offense Charges as London Trial Opens With 6 Accusers
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Oct 14
Summary
Southwark Crown Court heard prosecutors cast Russell Brand, 51, as a “sexual predator” at the opening of his trial on three rape counts, three sexual-assault charges and one indecent-assault charge.
Six female complainants allege offenses between 1999 and 2009, and the prosecution said the women did not know one another and came forward independently.
Jurors were told one woman says Brand raped her after a 1999 meeting, while others described alleged assaults at MTV, Capital Radio, a 2004 party and a 2009 encounter linked to Hammersmith Apollo.
Police interviews were cited in court: Brand said he had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity, did not remember one alleged incident if it happened, and said accounts were reinvented or imagined after 2023 reporting.
Brand, accompanied by his wife Laura, denies the charges; the London trial is expected to last six weeks.