Prosecution Brands Russell Brand a "Sexual Predator" as Rape Trial Opens at Southwark Crown Court

Russell Brand was characterised as a "ruthless" and "sexual predator" by prosecutors on Wednesday as his long-awaited trial for rape and sexual assault opened at Southwark Crown Court in London. The 51-year-old actor and comedian faces three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault, all of which he denies.

The allegations, brought by six female complainants, are said to span a decade between 1999 and 2009 — a period that roughly coincides with the steepest rise of Brand's public profile, from stand-up comedian to tabloid fixture and Hollywood actor. Prosecuting counsel Riel Karmy-Jones KC told the jury that the women "did not know each other", "have never met each other" and "came forward independently of each other", a detail likely intended to counter any suggestion of collusion.

In a sharply worded opening statement, Karmy-Jones said the circumstances of the alleged offending were "as wide and as varied as the defendant's career". She argued that "regardless of who the women were and what they said or did, Brand was not deterred", describing what she called his "indiscriminate and voracious" desire for sexual contact.

The prosecutor offered the jury a dual portrait of the defendant. She said Brand could be "nice when he wanted to be, funny — undoubtedly — charming, likeable even, when he wanted something in return". But she also described him as "demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite — childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met".

According to the prosecution, Brand would often "appear indifferent, normal and untroubled by what had just occurred" following the alleged encounters, sometimes leaving promptly, sometimes making an excuse to get away, and sometimes carrying on as though nothing had happened. Brand, dressed in a dark suit with an open white shirt, was depicted in a court sketch sitting in the dock. His wife, Laura Brand, accompanied him to court and was seen holding his hand as they walked past photographers.

The jury then heard details of the individual allegations. The first complainant said she met Brand in 1999, before he became famous, after attending the Labour Party conference and speaking to him at a fringe event. She alleges he later raped her. When police questioned Brand about the claim, he said that "if it happened, he didn't remember the incident", adding that he did not recall her name and had "never engaged in non-consensual activity".

The second complainant, who worked for MTV at the time, says Brand indecently assaulted her. She told investigators that Brand asked her where the toilets were and she offered to show him. Once there, prosecutors say, he asked her to "come in" before grabbing her forearm. She resisted by struggling and pulling back, and recalled what she described as a desperate, wild-eyed look on his face as he said: "Please please come in – oh go on."

A third complainant says Brand orally raped her in a toilet after they met at a party in 2004. The jury was told that within a minute of meeting, in the middle of a conversation, he lurched forward and grabbed her breasts with both hands, squeezing them. The prosecution said she remembered a "big, weird grin" on his face as he did so, before he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the toilets. The same woman alleged that as they drove to another venue, Brand exposed himself and said, "Come on, come on, suck it", to which she replied "No no". He simply laughed but appeared to accept her refusal, the court heard.

The fourth complainant alleges that Brand pushed her against a wall at Capital Radio in 2004 or 2005 and kissed her "sloppily and aggressively", grabbing her body at her breasts, sides and buttocks. She was able to push him away, after which he "just sniggered, like it was a joke", the prosecutor said.

The fifth complainant says she met Brand when he was performing at the Hammersmith Apollo in London in 2009. Their encounter began with consensual activity, according to the prosecution, but she alleges he raped her anally on a later occasion. The jury heard that the woman "spent months and years blaming herself", becoming anxious and unwell. Brand allegedly texted her after seeing her at an event the following summer, saying: "I wanna push you further." She is said to have replied: "I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal", to which he allegedly responded: "I'm sorry."

The sixth complainant, who accuses Brand of sexual assault, says he demanded a massage while she was on a work assignment in 2009. He "fell to his knees and placed his head directly into her groin area", the prosecution said. After setting out the accounts of the final two women, the prosecutor told the court that Brand had told police in 2023 "he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity, and that any accounts had been reinvented or imagined after a defamatory documentary and subsequent press reporting".

On Wednesday afternoon, Brand's former flatmate Mark Pinheiro became the first witness to give evidence. He told jurors that Brand had said he may have gone a "bit too far" with a woman, although the source account of his testimony ends at that point. The trial, presided over by a judge at Southwark Crown Court, is expected to continue in the coming days and weeks as further witnesses are called and the defence sets out its response to the charges.