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Comedian and former television host Russell Brand has been jailed for ten and and a half years. Southwark Crown Court in London passed the sentence on November 9, four days after a jury convicted Brand of rape and sexual assault. The case traces back to September 2023, when the Metropolitan Police began investigating Brand, and to April 2025, when the charges were announced.
According to reports, Judge Joel Bennathan set nine years for the rape, with shorter terms for each of the three sexual assaults. The three sexual assault sentences run concurrently with one another but consecutively to the nine-year rape sentence, creating a total sentence of 10 years and six months. Brand will have to complete two-thirds of the term, a minimum of seven years. The rest of his sentence will be subject to licence (parole) conditions.
The jury returned the verdicts on November 5, finding Brand guilty on four of seven counts: one of rape and three of sexual assault, covering incidents between 2004 and 2009. Two assaults date to around 2004 and took place at a London bar and a radio station. A third occurred in 2009 on a television production. The rape count related to a woman Brand met after a comedy performance that same year. Six women testified during the proceedings.
On the remaining three counts, two of rape and one of attempted indecent assault, the jury returned not guilty verdicts.
Brand has consistently rejected the allegations. His defence was that the alleged events never took place, or that consensual encounters were later recast by the women as something else. In testimony, Brand said he considers consent essential and has never had sex without that consent.
Brand entered a not guilty plea at a hearing in May 2025, and was taken into custody once the verdicts came in. The allegations became public in September 2023, and the sentencing closes the trial at Southwark Crown Court.