Russell Brand barrister self-reports to Bar Standards Board after alleged confrontation with journalist, Digi Mart USA News (London): Russell Brand’s defence barrister has referred himself to the regulator after reports that he confronted a Sunday Times journalist who was involved in a media investigation into Brand in 2023.
In a Times and Sunday Times podcast on Thursday, Rosamund Urwin said she introduced herself to Ian Winter KC outside court after verdicts were delivered. She claimed he responded with a “snarl” and said “I hope you’re pleased with yourself.”
Urwin said she could not remember saying “I am pleased that justice has been done,” but had read it in reporting. She said Winter replied “it wasn’t” and suggested she was to blame using a profanity.
In a statement, Winter said the “ways matters have been characterised” in the media meant they should be “subject to proper scrutiny.” On Friday, he said he considered his professional duty required him to self-report the allegations to the Bar Standards Board.
The Bar Standards Board regulates barristers in England and Wales in the public interest. In his statement, Winter said: “Having seen the ways matters have been characterised in today’s press I consider my professional duty requires me to self-report those allegations to the Bar Standards Board, so the matter can be subject to proper scrutiny.
I have made such a report.”
Four women variously accused Brand of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse in a joint investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches and the Times and Sunday Times in September 2023. The actor and comedian denied the allegations.
On Thursday, Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault following a four-week trial. None of the women who featured in the media investigation were the complainants from Brand’s criminal trial.
During a pre-trial hearing in October, Brand unsuccessfully sought to have his criminal case thrown out. His lawyers argued he could not receive a fair trial because of publicity following the Channel 4 Dispatches, Sunday Times and Times programme.
Prosecutors opposed the application.
Brand is also being investigated over two more rape allegations made by two other women. Court documents from a hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court suggest one of the women was 16 at the time of the alleged offence and appeared in a Channel 4 documentary.
Brand has denied these allegations.
On Friday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if more people came forward with allegations against Brand. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he praised the “bravery” of the women who reported their allegations and gave evidence during the trial.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been asked about Labour’s past association with Brand. Some party figures sought his support more than a decade ago, before police began investigating him.
At the time, Brand had gained a following for his left-wing political punditry.
Labour leader Ed Miliband was interviewed by Brand shortly before the 2015 election, and in 2014 Burnham publicly backed Brand during a row over claims about the comedian’s housing arrangements. At the time, Burnham said it was “depressing to see media mission to discredit someone who stops playing their game” and urged Brand to “keep going.”
Speaking on Friday, Burnham said: “It’s not always the case that people know everything about people in public life.” He described Brand’s crimes as “horrific” and said he had been rightly held to account, adding: “I had no idea of the full extent of what he was doing.”
Brand is being held in custody ahead of his sentencing on Monday. After the jury returned its verdicts, Mr Justice Bennathan told him to expect a “significant custodial term.”
