Russell Brand rape trial evidence excluded from jury, Digi Mart USA News (Southwark Crown Court, London): Katy Perry was left out of the prosecution case against Russell Brand, while jurors were also blocked from hearing details of his addictions to alcohol and drugs.
Prosecutors had wanted to mention Perry, Brand’s ex-wife, when opening the case at Southwark Crown Court against the comedian and podcaster over allegations of rape and sexual assault during 10 years of his showbusiness career. However, the Grammy-nominated singer was removed from lead prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC’s speech after submissions made by Brand’s legal team.
The prosecutors also agreed not to raise Brand’s past religious interests, prior to his recent conversion to Christianity. Brand was convicted on Thursday 5 November of one count of rape and three of sexual assault.
He and Perry were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in India in 2010 at a venue close to a tiger sanctuary.
In legal submissions before the trial began, Ms Karmy-Jones said: “The prosecution recognise that matters post 2009 involving his relationship with Katy Perry may be sensitive, as may his previous faiths, and we are content to remove these from the opening.” She also agreed to remove mention of Brand’s baptism in the River Thames in Henley in 2024, a ceremony attended by TV presenter Bear Grylls.
When Brand gave evidence, he mentioned his short-lived marriage to Perry and said it was at that point that he achieved “staggering fame.” The two started dating after meeting on the set of the film Get Him To The Greek in 2009, but their marriage was over by the end of 2011.
The Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed that Perry was not asked for a witness statement during the investigation. Senior crown prosecutor David Roberts said: “We followed all reasonable lines of inquiry in statements that would have been relevant to the specific charges and I’m satisfied that all reasonable lines of inquiry were covered.”
In pre-trial arguments, it was revealed that details of Brand’s drug use and alcoholism would not feature in the case. The prosecution wanted to rely on Brand’s “dependency” on drink and drugs, but defence barrister Ian Winter KC objected.
“Putting aside the illogicality of the suggestion that dependency issues mean he would engage in non-consensual sex, none of the complainants assert that Mr Brand was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of their encounters with him,” he told the judge.
Brand’s former assistant Helen Berger was allowed to give evidence of his “insane sexual appetite,” but her statement was edited to omit her assumption that he had a sex addiction, as well as reference to Brand’s past treatment at a sex addiction clinic. Former friend Mark Pinheiro was also blocked from discussing the comedian’s substance abuse.
Brand’s team did not succeed in blocking the jury from hearing evidence from Ms Berger that he became “depressed” after sex, his penchant for sex in toilets and dressing rooms, and that he would “switch off the charm” when a woman mentioned she was in a relationship. Prosecutors also wanted to use evidence from former flatmate Andrew Dobson, who said Brand’s female friends were told “don’t go there.”
Extracts from Brand’s book, My Booky Wook, were read to the jury, including lines in which Brand referred to himself as “guilty” after sex and suggested he had a “birthright” to orgasm. His follow-up book, My Booky Wook 2, was kept out of the case because it was published after the last of the allegations in 2009.
The 2023 Dispatches documentary, Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, loomed large over the trial and formed a cornerstone of Brand’s defence argument that the evidence against him had been tainted by the reporting. However, jurors were chosen who had never seen the documentary, and it was never aired during the four-week case.
