Russell Brand was sentenced Monday to 10 years and six months in prison for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, The Post Millennial reported, after a London jury convicted him last Thursday.
Mr. Justice Joel Bennathan imposed the term at Southwark Crown Court, where Brand had been held since the Thursday verdict. According to The Daily Mails sentencing coverage, Brand was given nine years for the rape and a further 18 months for the sexual assaults, for a total of 10 years.
The convictions cover offenses between 2004 and 2009. Brand was found not guilty of two other rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault, The Post Millennial noted. During Mondays hearing, Bennathan said Brand had become a sexual predator while rising to fame, adding he was clever and, to many people, funny and charismatic.
Ahead of the sentence, Brands barrister, Ian Winter KC, minimized the gravity of the crimes in remarks reported by The Daily Mail. Winter told the court one sexual-assault victim was not particularly vulnerable at all, arguing that being tipsy did not create vulnerability and that Brand did not know she was tipsy.
On the rape count, Winter invited the judge to conclude that this was fully consensual vaginal intercourse and said Brand should be sentenced for really quite a short, momentary total failure to respect her consent in two areas. The Daily Mail reported Winter also described a related demand that the woman shower and brush her teeth beforehand as not entirely surprising given Brands history with alcohol.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC rejected that framing, calling the victim particularly vulnerable and describing the shower demand as degradation and humiliation, according to The Daily Mail. In a victim statement quoted there, the woman said she felt anxious, humiliated and overwhelmed and still lives with the trauma every day.
Brand, 51, maintained at trial that the encounters were consensual. He is expected to serve two-thirds of the sentence before parole eligibility, The Standard reported.
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