Russell Brand trial opens with prosecutor calling him a calculated sexual predator
The trial of British comedian Russell Brand has begun at Southwark crown court in London, where he faces rape and sexual assault charges involving six women. He denies all charges.
The trial of British comedian and television personality Russell Brand opened on Wednesday at Southwark crown court in London. The 51-year-old faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault, involving six women and spanning 1999 to 2009. He denies every charge.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told jurors that Brand was ruthless, calculated and manipulative, and a sexual predator. She said he had told a friend he wanted to sleep with 5,000 women and followed rules to achieve that. Brand appeared in the dock in a pinstripe suit; his wife, Laura Gallacher, sat through the morning's evidence.
The allegations
The earliest allegation dates to the Labour party conference in Bournemouth in 1999, when Brand was not yet famous. He is accused of raping a woman at a hotel after meeting her at a fringe event where he performed. In 2001, he allegedly tried to pull an MTV employee into a men's toilet and indecently assaulted her. In 2004, he is accused of raping a third woman in the toilets of a Soho bar. A fourth woman, who worked at a radio station, says he kissed and groped her in 2004 or 2005.
The fifth complainant was a fan who attended his Hammersmith Apollo show in London in 2009. She alleges he later raped her at his home, causing bleeding. The last woman, who worked at Channel 4, says he sexually assaulted her in 2009; she told her manager but felt the complaint was not taken seriously.
Brand's response
In prepared statements to police, Brand denied all allegations. He said he had never engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity and that accounts had been reinvented or imagined after a documentary about him. Before the hearing he told a journalist he felt blessed and hoped the process would lead to good outcomes for everyone involved.
Brand became a British television personality in the 2000s and hosted a show on BBC Radio 2 before moving into Hollywood films. He was married to singer Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012. The trial, before Mr Justice Bennathan, continues.
