Jury selection begins in Russell Brand rape and sexual assault trial

LAST UPDATE | 15 mins ago

JURY SELECTION HAS begun in the trial of Russell Brand over charges of rape and sexual assault against six women.

The 51-year-old, who denies all charges, is accused of groping women and forcing them into sexual acts in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999 to 2009.

On Monday morning at Southwark Crown Court, Brand was accompanied by his wife, Laura Gallacher, as he arrived for the start of the trial.

With Brand in the dock, Justice Bennathan started the process of selecting jurors who will sit on the case.

A group of 50 prospective jurors were first asked if they had seen a Channel 4 documentary or read a newspaper article concerning allegations about Brand in 2023.

“We are about to start the trial of one Mr Russell Brand,” said the judge.

He noted that many of the prospective jurors would have heard of Brand.

“About three years ago, there was a TV programme and was a long article in the Times newspaper in which some allegations were made against him of sexual misconduct,” the judge said, adding that they “were allegations he firmly denied”.

“The jury in this trial will hear something about that programme and the allegations in the programme and the newspaper article.

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“But we, the lawyers and the judge, all agree if any of you remember as you stand here today watching the Channel 4 documentary or remember reading the article in the Times about three years ago, please put a hand up now.”

The judge then dismissed six members of the jury panel who identified that they remembered seeing the media coverage.

It is expected that the jury selection process will continue on Tuesday, ahead of the prosecution opening its case against Brand on Wednesday morning.

The jurors have also been told that the trial is expected to last around six weeks.

The allegations

Brand denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault, made by six women.

Previous hearings have heard Brand is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, grabbing a TV worker’s breasts and forcing her into a sex act in a toilet, and kissing and groping a radio station worker.

Essex-born Brand started out as a stand-up comedian and his showbiz career took off when he was picked to front Big Brother spin-off shows by Channel 4.

He became one of Britain’s best-known comedians in the 2000s and moved into Hollywood films.

In recent years, he has pivoted to podcasting and online influencing, and now lives in Florida in the United States.

Brand, who pleaded not guilty to the charges during pre-trial hearings, is on bail.