Rape, sexual assault: UK’s Russell sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in jail

LONDON: Comedian Russell Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and a Hollywood star, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years on Monday after he was convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three more around two decades ago.

Brand – the former husband of US pop singer Katy Perry who in recent years moved away from the mainstream – was convicted on Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three more between 2004 and 2009. He had denied all the charges.

The 51-year-old stood in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court as Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced him, describing Brand as a predator who believed “fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked”.

Earlier, one of Brand’s victims, whom Brand anally raped in 2009, said in a statement read by prosecutors that the trauma of the attack was “something I carry with me every day and it often feels never-ending”.

Brand’s lawyer Ian Winter said Brand – who has spoken at length about his recovery from drink and drug addiction and his new-found Christian faith – was “a fundamentally different person today and has been for a very long time”.

London’s Metropolitan Police has said Brand is under investigation for two other alleged rapes, one involving a then-16-year-old girl, and the head of the force said on Friday that he “wouldn’t be surprised if many more came forward”.

Brand, who starred in films such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, “Get Him to the Greek” and “Arthur”, had denied ever having non-consensual sex. He was acquitted of two other rape charges and an attempted indecent assault.