- Published
Russell Brand was described as "ruthless" and a "sexual predator" by the prosecution at the start of his trial for rape and sexual assault on Wednesday.
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Brand → publish → Wednesday
The 51-year-old actor and comedian faces three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one of indecent assault.
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actor → face → assault
The allegations, made by six female complainants, span a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009.
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allegations → make → 1999
He denies the charges.
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He → deny → charges
Riel Karmy-Jones KC, for the prosecution, told Southwark Crown Court in London the women "did not know each other", "have never met each other" and "came forward independently of each other".
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women → tell → other
Warning - this report contains graphic content
The barrister said: "The circumstances of the offending were as wide and as varied as the defendant's career."
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circumstances → contain → career
She said that "regardless of who the women were and what they said or did, Brand was not deterred".
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Brand → say → what
"His desire, strong desire, for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious," she told the court.
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she → tell → court
The prosecutor told jurors that Brand would be "nice when he wanted to be, funny - undoubtedly - charming, likeable even, when he wanted something in return".
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he → tell → return
But she said he would also be "demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite - childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met".
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desire → say → expectation
The prosecutor said Brand would "appear indifferent, normal and untroubled by what had just occurred" after the encounters.
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what → say → encounters
She added that "sometimes he would leave promptly after the incident, sometimes making an excuse to get away, or sometimes simply continuing as though nothing wrong had happened".
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nothing → add → excuse
On Wednesday, the jury heard details of the alleged offences.
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jury → hear → offences
The first complainant says she met Brand before he was famous in 1999, the jury was told.
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jury → say → 1999
She had attended the Labour Party conference and went to a fringe event where she spoke to Brand.
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she → attend → Brand
He later allegedly raped her.
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He → rap → her
The prosecution said when Brand was questioned by police about this allegation of rape, "he said if it happened, he didn't remember the incident".
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he → say → incident
He added that he did not remember the first complainant's name and that he "had never engaged in non-consensual activity".
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he → add → activity
The second complainant worked for MTV at the time when she says Brand indecently assaulted her.
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Brand → work → her
She said Brand asked her where the toilets were and the woman offered to show him.
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woman → say → him
When they reached the toilets, prosecutors say, Brand asked the woman to "come in" before grabbing her forearm.
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Brand → reach → forearm
She resisted by struggling and pulling back.
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She → resist → ?
He had what she described as a desperate, wild-eyed look on his face, as he said: "Please please come in – oh go on."
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he → have → face
The third complainant says Brand orally raped her in a toilet after meeting her at a party in 2004.
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Brand → say → 2004
Within a minute of meeting, in the middle of a conversation, he lurched forward and grabbed her breasts and squeezed them with both hands, the jury was told.
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jury → lurch → hands
The prosecution said the woman remembered he had a "big, weird grin" on his face as he did so, then grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the toilets.
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he → say → toilets
The same woman said that as they were driving to another venue, Brand exposed himself, the court heard.
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court → say → himself
"He said, 'Come on, come on, suck it' – to which she just said, 'No no'," the prosecution added.
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prosecution → say → which
"He simply laughed but appeared to accept her refusal."
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He → laugh → refusal
The fourth complainant says Brand pushed her up against a wall at Capital Radio in 2004 or 2005 and kissed her "sloppily and aggressively", and "grabbed her body, at her breasts, sides and buttocks, aggressively".
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Brand → say → breasts
She was able to push him away and he "just sniggered, like it was a joke", the prosecutor said.
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prosecutor → push → him
The jury then heard how the fifth complainant says she met Brand when he was performing at the Hammersmith Apollo in London in 2009.
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he → hear → 2009
The prosecution said their encounter began with consensual activity, but that he raped her anally on a later occasion.
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he → say → occasion
The jury heard how the woman "spent months and years blaming herself", becoming anxious and unwell.
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woman → hear → herself
They were told Brand texted the woman after seeing her at an event the following summer, saying: "I wanna push you further."
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I → tell → you
She is said to have replied: "I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal."
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you → say → animal
He allegedly replied: "I'm sorry."
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I → reply → ?
The sixth complainant - who has accused Brand of sexual assault - says he demanded a massage when she was on a work assignment in 2009.
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she → accuse → 2009
He "fell to his knees and placed his head directly into her groin area", the prosecution said.
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prosecution → fall → area
After the accounts of the final two women were heard, the prosecutor said Brand 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".
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accounts → hear → documentary
…and 5 more, not listed.
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