Evil Along the Way: How Russell Brand Was Caught and Convicted
A sentence after conviction
Justice Joel Bennathan sentenced Brand at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. The judge said women retain the right to refuse consent and seek justice in criminal courts. A jury found Brand guilty on four of seven counts last week: three sexual assaults and one violent anal rape. The article says six complainants accused him of attacks from 1999 to 2009. Brand has consistently denied criminal wrongdoing.
In describing the 2009 assault, Bennathan said Brand removed a condom and forced anal sex after the woman had consensual vaginal sex with him. The judge said she asked him to stop, suffered severe pain, and was made to clean up.
Questions about industry silence
The trial drew sustained media attention and divided the British public. Brand said during the trial that no one would “touch him with a bargepole,” and that he had not persuaded anyone to testify for him.
Jonathan Ross said he was “horrified” by Brand’s crimes and “genuinely unaware” of his conduct. The report says many others from the British comedy circuit have not commented. Questions remain about whether Brand’s behavior was an “open secret,” why allegations involved workplace incidents, and whether published investigations affected the case. Brand’s defense argued that journalists had “poisoned the well of justice.”
Investigations and industry precedent
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with two sexual assault attorneys, a University of Warwick scholar of work, pay and insecurity in creative industries, and the woman who led investigations at Channel 4 and the Sunday Times. Those investigations started the police probe into Brand’s crimes.
The interviewees discussed how freelance work could leave people vulnerable, how women were drawn into settings with Brand under the guise of flamboyant comedy, and the years of work behind the investigation. Brand is expected to serve about seven years at HMP Wandsworth, the report says. The people interviewed considered what his conviction may mean for the U.K. entertainment industry and for others accused of similar conduct.
Key points
- Brand received a 10-year-and-six-month prison sentence after conviction on four counts.
- Six complainants accused Brand of attacks between 1999 and 2009.
- Investigations by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times led to a police probe.
- Interviewees said the case raises questions about freelance work and accountability in entertainment.