LONDON: British comedian Russell Brand was found guilty by a London jury on Thursday of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, involving a total of four women.
Brand, who closed his eyes but showed no emotion as the jury delivered its verdicts, was cleared of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Judge Joel Bennathan warned the 51-year-old actor-turned-conservative religious online guru that he faced a “significant custodial term”.
Brand’s wife, Laura, watched from the public gallery as the jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court delivered its four unanimous guilty verdicts.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Monday. The maximum sentence for rape in the UK is life imprisonment.
Brand, who was briefly married to US pop star Katy Perry, reportedly also faces a further accusation of raping two more women, including a 16-year-old schoolgirl, and could face additional criminal charges.
The allegations, which could not be reported earlier, were revealed at previous hearings during his four-week trial.
After the verdicts, the Metropolitan Police paid tribute to the “extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them”.
“Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women,” the Met’s Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said in a statement.
“As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement. I hope this conviction sends a clear message that no one is above the law, no matter how famous or powerful they may be,” Furphy added.
Bail refused
Senior prosecutor David Roberts said outside the court on Thursday that 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,” Roberts added.
Brand was convicted of four sexual offences — one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault — involving four women between 2005 and 2009 at different locations, including a radio station, the set of a DVD recording and Brand’s home.
He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, saying that although he used to be promiscuous, he had always had consensual sex.
The prosecution had earlier described him as a “ruthless, calculated and manipulative” sexual predator.
Following the guilty verdicts, Brand’s lawyer, Ian Winter, urged the judge to renew his bail over the weekend as “an act of humanity”.
Winter said he was seeking bail so Brand could “put his affairs in order and in particular to say goodbye to his three young children”.
Judge Bennathan said he regretted the “hardship caused to the children”.
However, he said Brand had “considerable resources” and that, whatever his good intentions, there were substantial grounds to “fear he might in the end not feel able to come along and face his sentence”.
From the dock, Brand signalled to his defence team that he was okay, adding: “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good” before being led out of the dock.
