Russell Brand to be sentenced for rape and sexual assault today – latest updates

Following his conviction last week, the Met Police revealed that they were investigating further rape allegations against Brand, including one involving a then ۱۶-year-old girl.

The Met said they had already questioned Brand on further complaints from two other women, and have submitted the files to crown prosecutors.

The lead detective in the case, Det Supt Andy Furphy, told the Guardian last week he believed there could be more victims.

If you get a conviction then it tends to encourage other people to come forward because they see the courage and the bravery and the resilience that these women have had to go through this criminal justice process, and they feel their own strength as a result of that. They want to come forward and have their story told.

The Met’s investigation into Brand, named Operation Actinolite, involved tracing and speaking to more than ۱۰۰ witnesses, reviewing more than ۱,۴۰۰ documents and taking more than ۳۴۰ statements, including from Brand’s former employers, colleagues and associates.

Brand has also been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his mansion in Los Angeles in ۲۰۰۸, in a civil claim filed at the high court in London.

The former actor-comedian was transported to Southwark Crown Court in a white prison van. He was held at HMP Wandsworth on the weekend.

His wife, Laura Brand, who has been a steadfast and loyal supporter by his side, has also just entered the court. She gave testimony on his behalf, attesting to his good character during the trial.

The couple have three young children together.

The actor-comedian had been free but was taken into custody immediately after the jury returned the guilty verdicts last Thursday.

His defence lawyer Ian Winter KC had put in a plea for bail, arguing for Brand to have the weekend to say goodbye to his wife and three children.

But this was rejected by Justice Bennathan on the grounds that Brand, with his money and connections, posed a flight risk.

There were substantial grounds to “fear he might in the end not feel able to come along and face his sentence”, the judge said.

I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course.

But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.

Sitting in the courtroom last week, Brand had closed his eyes when the guilty verdict for the rape charge was read out. After his bail was denied, he gestured OK to his lawyers and repeated “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good”, before being taken away by guards.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours last week to return a unanimous verdict where they found Brand guilty on four of the seven charges.

He was found guilty of one count of rape and three incidents of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one attempted incident.

Brand had pleaded not guilty to all the offences, telling the court he believed he never had non-consensual sex.

But the jury found he had committed crimes against four women between ۲۰۰۴-۲۰۰۹ in different locations, in a central London bar, a radio station, recording studio and his former home in Hampstead, London.

• He was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a colleague’s birthday party in a bar in Soho, London in ۲۰۰۴, but found not guilty of orally raping her in a bathroom.

• He was found guilty of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in ۲۰۰۴ or ۲۰۰۵

• He was convicted of anally raping a fan at his home after meeting her backstage at one of his comedy shows in ۲۰۰۹

• He was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman who says the comedian demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin during an advert recording in ۲۰۰۹.

He was acquitted of raping another woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party annual conference in Bournemouth in ۱۹۹۹, and of attempting to indecently assault a woman by dragging her into the bathrooms in the London offices of MTV music channel.

Brand to be sentenced for rape and sexual assault today

Frances Mao

Good morning. Russell Brand will be sentenced today after being found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others in seperate incidents between ۲۰۰۵-۲۰۰۹.

The disgraced former comedian and Hollywood star has been behind bars since he was convicted by a jury last Thursday, denied bail by his trial judge who ruled that he posed a flight risk.

During the four-week trial, prosecutors had argued that Brand was a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator” who pursued women relentlessly and exploited his fame and power to get what he wanted from them sexually.

The ۵۱-year-old father of three is now facing a “significant” prison term, Justice Joel Bennathan said last week.

The sentencing is taking place in Southwark Crown Court in London and commences at ۱۰:۳۰am GMT. I’ll bring you all the developments.