Russell Brand Convicted of Rape and Three Sexual Assaults, Acquitted on Three Other Counts

How It Broke

First cut — filed Thu, Nov 5, 2026 — verdict day. The first cut is never rewritten; developments land above as updates.

Russell Brand was convicted on Thursday of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, after a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. The jury acquitted him of two other counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

Brand, 51, was refused bail and remanded in custody. Mr Justice Joel Bennathan told him to expect what the judge called a “significant custodial term” and set sentencing for Monday, November 9. A rape conviction in England and Wales carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with sentencing guidelines setting an offence range of four to 19 years.

The verdicts, count by count

The jury convicted Brand of sexually assaulting a woman at a party in a Soho bar in 2004, and of sexually assaulting a woman at the Choice FM radio studios in London in 2004 or 2005. He was convicted of raping a woman he had met at a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009. The fourth guilty verdict was for sexually assaulting a woman who was working on a Channel 4 project in 2009.

The two rape counts on which he was acquitted, and the attempted indecent assault count, concerned other complainants. In total, the case involved six women and alleged offences spanning 1999 to 2009. All six complainants are entitled to lifelong anonymity. Brand pleaded not guilty to all seven charges and denied ever having non-consensual sex.

How the case reached a courtroom

The allegations first surfaced publicly in September 2023, in a joint investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches, The Sunday Times and The Times. The women at the centre of the criminal case came forward to police in the wake of that reporting; the women featured in the 2023 investigation were not themselves complainants in this trial.

In April 2025, Brand was charged with five offences — rape, oral rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault — relating to four women between 1999 and 2005. In December 2025, prosecutors authorised two further charges, one of rape and one of sexual assault, relating to two more women in 2009. That brought the indictment to the seven counts the jury considered.

The trial

The trial opened on October 12. Lead prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors Brand had used women to satisfy his own desires and had been emboldened by fame. The court heard from all six complainants, who did not know one another.

Brand gave evidence in his own defence. He accepted he had “misused” his fame “very, very selfishly” in his past relationships with women, but testified that every encounter was consensual. “Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary,” he told the court. His legal team argued the case had been contaminated by the publicity around the 2023 documentary; the prosecution answered that the women had come forward when they realised they were not alone.

The jury — four women and eight men — returned its verdicts on Thursday after roughly eight and a half hours of deliberations.

What happens on Monday, and what is still open

Sentencing is set for Monday, November 9, at Southwark Crown Court. The judge has already indicated the term will be a substantial one, and Brand remains in custody until then. Any decision on an appeal would follow sentencing.

Separately, the Metropolitan Police confirmed after the verdicts that Brand remains under investigation over two further allegations of rape, with files of evidence sent to prosecutors for consideration. Detective Inspector Laura Nelson, who led the investigation, said police expected further allegations could emerge following the conviction and encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support at 800-656-HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org.