British comedian and actor Russell Brand is due to be sentenced for raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three other women during his showbiz career.
Brand, 51, was found guilty last week of raping a woman in 2009, as well as sexually assaulting female TV and radio workers between 2004 and 2009.
Justice Bennathan ordered Brand to start his prison sentence immediately after being found guilty.
The judge will pass sentence on Monday, telling Brand how long he must now serve in custody.
Brand’s wife, Laura Gallacher, left court in tears after the guilty verdicts, while Brand was last seen mouthing “I’m OK” to his lawyers before being led to the cells.
On Monday, the judge is expected to hear impact statements from Brand’s victims and legal submissions from the lawyers before passing sentence.
A four-week trial heard how Brand preyed on women that he encountered on his way to becoming one of Britain’s best-known comedians, a lauded TV and radio host, and a Hollywood actor who was briefly married to singer Katy Perry.
He claimed to have only ever had consensual sex during a “promiscuous” life, which he insisted had been packed with “idiocy” but never illegal.
But his victims told a different story, of a famous and powerful man who kissed and groped women within seconds of meeting them, pursued his sexual ambitions relentlessly, and laughed at and gaslit women after the attacks.
Friends and former colleagues of Brand also came forward to give evidence of his ambition to sleep with 5000 women, an “insane” sexual appetite, and his bad behaviour towards women being “normalised” as he became increasingly famous.
Brand was convicted by the jury of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009, after meeting her following one of his stand-up shows at the Hammersmith Apollo.
The woman told jurors she was a huge Brand fan and had willingly engaged in a threesome with him backstage despite having a boyfriend at the time.
She agreed to go to Brand’s Hampstead home for sex a few days later, but a consensual encounter turned into rape when the comedian suddenly forced the woman into anal sex.
Another woman told the court how her breasts were groped by Brand in the Nordic bar in Soho, just seconds after she had been introduced to him at a 2004 party.
In 2005, Brand kissed and groped a third woman during a visit to the Capital Radio studios in London, pouncing on her as she walked out of a room.
She remembers looking to Brand’s entourage for help but no one came to her aid, before she eventually managed to push him away.
Brand was also convicted of putting his head into the groin of a female Channel 4 worker, after she had been forced to give him a massage in 2009.
In the wake of his convictions, the Metropolitan Police revealed that Brand is currently under investigation over two further rape allegations.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley Mark Rowley said his officers are braced for “many, many more” possible victims to come forward.
The judge has already warned Brand to expect a lengthy prison sentence.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
