British comedian and actor Russell Brand is due to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others in incidents spanning 2004 to 2009.
Titiansloaded reports that the 51-year-old entertainer was convicted last week following a trial in which four women gave accounts of sexual attacks and unwanted advances.
The jury, however, cleared him of two additional rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Following the verdicts, Justice Bennathan ordered Brand to begin his prison sentence immediately and remanded him at HMP Wandsworth ahead of the sentencing hearing.
Brand denied all the allegations throughout the proceedings, maintaining that his sexual encounters with the women were consensual.
He acknowledged having a promiscuous past and making poor personal decisions but rejected claims that he had committed criminal sexual offences.
Prosecutors argued that Brand exploited his fame and influence while working as a comedian, television presenter, radio host and film actor to gain access to women and subject them to unwanted sexual conduct.
One of the convictions concerned the rape of a 21-year-old woman in 2009. She told the court that she had initially agreed to a sexual encounter with Brand after meeting him backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo following one of his comedy performances.
According to her testimony, she later visited his Hampstead home, where an encounter that began consensually turned into rape.
Another complainant described being sexually assaulted at the Nordic bar in Soho in 2004. She said Brand grabbed her breasts in the crowded venue shortly after they were introduced at a party.
A third woman told the court that Brand kissed and groped her without consent at the Capital Radio studios in London in 2005.
She said she eventually managed to push him away after looking towards members of his entourage for help, but nobody intervened.
The fourth complainant, who worked for Channel 4, alleged that Brand put his head into her groin in 2009 after she had been pressured to massage him. She told the court that he had refused to continue a recording session unless she gave him a massage.
During the proceedings, prosecutors also referred to passages in Brand’s 2007 autobiography, My Booky Wook, which described his pursuit of sexual relationships.
Brand’s wife, Laura Gallacher, was seen leaving the courtroom in tears after the guilty verdicts were announced.
The comedian was also seen mouthing the words “I’m OK” to his lawyers before prison officers escorted him away.
The Metropolitan Police has disclosed that Brand is facing investigation over two additional rape allegations. Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said authorities remained prepared to receive reports from other potential victims.
The convictions represent a significant development in the legal proceedings against Brand, whose career has included stand-up comedy, television, radio and film appearances.
He is expected to learn the punishment imposed by the court at his sentencing hearing.
