UK prosecution labels Russell Brand a ruthless sexual predator at opening of his sex assault trial

A British prosecutor has accused Russell Brand of being a “ruthless” sexual predator who assaulted six women over the course of a decade

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Russell Brand behaved as a “ruthless” sexual predator when he assaulted six women over the course of a decade, a prosecutor said Wednesday, as she opened the rape and sexual assault case against the actor-comedian.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors at Southwark Crown Court in London that the six women, who don't know each other, were assaulted by Brand in “a hotel room, workplaces, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.”

She said Brand at the time had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact, and “women were simply a means to an end.”

“He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative. And, the prosecution say, he was a sexual predator,” Karmy-Jones said.

Two years later, another woman alleges, Brand tried to drag her into the men’s bathroom at the office building where she worked.

“There can be little doubt as to what Mr. Brand’s intention was,” Karmy-Jones said.

The prosecutor said the other complainants include a woman who says Brand kissed and groped her at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005, leaving her feeling “dirty and disgusting”; and a then-21-year-old fan who says Brand anally raped her at his home after she met him at one of his shows in 2009.

She said the following year she exchanged text messages with Brand, telling him: “You treated me like an animal.” He replied: “I’m sorry.”

Karmy-Jones told the jury that none of the alleged victims reported the alleged assaults at the time, due to guilt, shame and concern that they would be blamed. They individually went to police after a 2023 television program broadcast anonymous claims against Brand, she said.

The first witness to give evidence was Mark Pinheiro, a former friend of Brand who accompanied him on the 1999 trip to Bournemouth. He said that the day after the alleged rape, Brand made them leave town abruptly and seemed “incredibly alert and incredibly afraid.”