Media personality Russell Brand has been found guilty of a series of non-recent sexual offences that took place between 2004 and 2009.

David Roberts, Senior Crown Prosecutor in the London Rape and Serious Sexual Assault Unit said: “Russell Brand was predatory and used his celebrity status to commit sexual crimes. He was a manipulator with an insatiable desire to get what he wanted regardless of whether consent was given or not.

“As his career took off, he seized opportunities to assault the women around him. Although his tactics varied, at the centre of every assault was an abuse of power and sexual greed, with a complete disregard for the impact of his actions.

“I would like to thank all the women in this case for their courage in coming forward and seeing this sexual abuser brought to justice.”

Brand, 51, was found guilty of one count of rape, and three counts of sexual assault following a 4 week trial at Southwark Crown Court on 5th November.

The offences concerned four women and took place between 2004 and 2009, during a period in which Brand’s career and public profile grew from stand-up comedy into television and acting.

Building the case - one of the most high-profile cases in recent years

In her opening speech to the jury, Riel-Karmy Jones described Brand as someone who was “childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met” and that “uppermost in his mind was his insatiable desire to get what he wanted”. 

In court, this was shown through witness and victim testimony which demonstrated to the jury how the defendant used his increasing power and fame to manipulate situations to carry out his crimes. 

Given the time that has passed,  the evidence available in this case was limited. Prosecutors focused on how they could show the jury the pattern of Brand's behaviour towards women. Their job was to draw together pieces of a puzzle drawn from the victims' accounts and testimonies from the many witnesses who gave evidence to build a picture of events for the jury. 

One of his own friends described a man who was “a womaniser, and an expert pick up artist. He said he wanted to bed 5000 women in his lifetime, and that he had some rules that would allow him to achieve this – one of those rules was that “all you have to do is tell them what they need to hear”.

Some of the women involved protested and said no, others had no opportunity to react to his advances, but it mattered not to the defendant. The prosecution’s case was that regardless of who the women were,  or what they said or did, Brand was not deterred from pursuing them sexually.

It was important the jury understood that all victims experience and react to sexual abuse in different ways. They did not know the other women who had come forward. 

This supported the prosecution’s case that this was Brand’s way of behaving with women. 

As with all rape prosecutions – our case focused on the actions of the defendant – not the victims - focusing on a period of his life spanning about 10 years.  This is called a suspect-centric approach and comes under Operation Soteria – a national initiative for police and prosecutors which shifts the core lens from the victim onto the perpetrator.

How the CPS prosecutes rape and other sexual offences

Specialist lawyers in the CPS London Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit took a suspect-centric approach, focusing on Brand’s actions and behaviour rather than assumptions about how his victims should have acted or responded. 

This approach sits at the heart of the CPS’s National Operating Model for Adult Rape (NOM), which aims to build stronger cases and ensure harmful assumptions about rape do not influence decision making. The NOM builds on principles in Operation Soteria.

Whatever the circumstances surrounding sexual conduct, consent is paramount: it must be freely given, can be withdrawn at any time, and consenting to sexual activity previously does not mean consenting again. 

The women did not report the offences to police at the time. This is not unusual. The broadcast of a television programme about Brand in September 2023 prompted them, independently and for their own reasons, to come forward. 

There is no right way to respond to sexual offending and no typical timeframe for reporting it. Prosecutors are trained to understand trauma and challenge harmful assumptions about how or when a victim should report what happened to them. Prosecutions of sexual offences can take place no matter how much time has passed.

Having heard the evidence, the jury convicted Brand of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

This case sends a clear message that fame and status do not change the fundamental issue of consent. We hope today’s convictions give other victims of sexual offending the confidence to come forward when they are ready, no matter who the offender is or how long ago the offence took place.

Brand will be sentenced on Monday 9 November.