Russell Brand accused of rape after Labour Party conference
Russell Brand has appeared in court for the first time, accused of sex offences including raping a woman after a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.
Wearing a black shirt, jeans and brown boots, the comedian and actor, 49, did not enter pleas at Westminster magistrates' court but previously he has said that he is innocent.
JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE TIMES
Brand did not submit a plea
ELIZABETH COOK/PA
Suki Dhadda, for the prosecution, told the 12-minute hearing that Brand faces two charges of rape, two charges of sexual assault and one charge of indecent assault.
The allegations relate to four women.
Brand arrived at court with Oliver Schneider-Sikorsky, the solicitor who successfully defended Kevin Spacey against sex assault allegations in 2023.
Brand had travelled from his home in the US for the hearing.
The court heard that Brand is alleged to have raped a woman in September 1999 at her hotel after he met her at an event during the Labour conference.
It is alleged that while the woman went to the bathroom, Brand removed some of his clothing and asked her to take photographs of him.
Brand then allegedly pushed her onto the bed, pulled down her trousers and underwear and raped her. He allegedly left her with an email address.
The prosecutor said the second complainant, a television worker, accuses Brand of indecent assault and alleges he tried to drag her into a men's toilet in London in 2001.
The third alleged victim, another television worker, claims Brand orally raped her and sexually assaulted her at a Soho bar in 2004. It is alleged that he grabbed the complainant's breasts and pulled her into a toilet, where he made her perform a sex act on him.
The fourth complainant, a radio worker, claims that in 2004 or 2005, while Brand was working as a presenter on the TV show Big Brother's Big Mouth, he grabbed her by the face, 'sloppily' kissed her and grabbed her breast and buttocks.
Paul Goldspring, the chief magistrate, released Brand on conditional bail and sent the case to the Old Bailey for a hearing on May 30.
The judge told him: 'Mr Brand you face a number of allegations, five in total. Some of them are what would be called indictable only — the court must then send them to the crown court for trial.'
He told Brand he would next be 'sitting at the Central Criminal Court, which you might know as the Old Bailey, for a plea and trial preparation hearing on 30 May'.
The judge added: 'You are obliged to attend on that date. If you don't, and there's not a good reason for that, you potentially face an offence of failing to surrender and the court will almost certainly issue a warrant for your arrest. You could go to prison or be fined or both. Thank you very much, you are free to go.'
Brand replied: 'Thank you.'
He was accompanied to court by an unnamed man who was baptised with him in the River Thames last year.
The police investigation followed an investigation by The Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in 2023 into Brand's alleged mistreatment of women. He denied the allegations at the time.
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