Russell Brand complainant reports threats after 4-count conviction

A Russell Brand complainant told Southwark Crown Court on Nov. 9 she received death threats on social media after giving evidence in his four-week trial, Deadline reported in a court report.

Brand was convicted last week of one rape count and three sexual-assault counts after facing seven charges, putting the complainants’ statements before the court ahead of sentencing later Monday.

The woman, identified in court as Complainant 3 and entitled to lifelong anonymity, read her victim impact statement from behind a screen. Deadline reported that Brand sexually assaulted her at a TV industry party in London in 2004.

A victim impact statement is a statement to the court describing how an offence affected a complainant before sentencing. Lifelong anonymity means the complainant’s identity cannot be published; the court used identifiers including C3, C4 and C5.

C3 told the court that online reaction to her evidence damaged her and her family. Her character was “torn apart” online, she said, and her family “wanted to scream at their phones as they scrolled.”

She said the legal process forced her to revisit the assault repeatedly. C3 described having a “panic attack” after seeing media coverage of her complaint during the trial, and said speaking to police and the court felt like “reliving the ordeal” of the assault “over and over again.”

The four guilty verdicts followed a case that Deadline said lasted around a month, giving the sentencing hearing a narrower legal focus than the seven-charge trial. The statements before sentencing addressed the effect of Brand’s offending, his fame and the complainants’ fight for justice.

Three other complainants wrote victim impact statements, which prosecution barrister Riel Karmy-Jones read to the court. Complainant 4, who was sexually assaulted by Brand on the premises of a radio station, wrote: “Russell Brand is a sex predator who has no remorse. I hope he is not allowed to hurt any more women.”

Complainant 5, who was anally raped by Brand in 2009, said the experience damaged her confidence and self-esteem. “Even now, I continue to experience anxiety, difficulties with trust, reduced confidence and the lasting effects of trauma,” she said.

Another complainant identified as C5, who was sexually assaulted by Brand in 2009 while working for Channel 4, said the justice process felt “like a marathon I had not trained for.” She said she was proud of speaking out, but added: “I worry it will haunt me every day, despite being the right thing to do.”

Brand had denied seven charges during the trial, Atlas360 reported in October. His wife, Laura Brand, gave evidence for the defence, describing him to jurors as “amazingly attentive” and “kind,” and saying: “I love him very much.”

Brand spent the weekend in Wandsworth prison after being denied bail and held in custody before sentencing. Judge Mr Justice Bennathan said Brand had “considerable resources” and that there were “substantial grounds to fear he might in the end not feel able to come along and face his sentence.”

On Nov. 9, Southwark Crown Court is due to sentence Brand following his conviction on one rape count and three sexual-assault counts.

The checkable outcome is the sentence imposed by the court, including whether the judge gives separate terms for the rape count and the three sexual-assault counts.