Brand's Barrister Reports Himself to Bar Standards Board
Russell Brand's defence barrister has reported himself to the Bar Standards Board after claims that he confronted a Sunday Times journalist outside court. The exchange is said to have happened right after the verdicts, when Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault.
Labour's past link to Brand
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been asked about Labour's association with Brand. More than a decade ago, before police began investigating him, some party figures courted his support. He then had a following for his left-wing political punditry. Ed Miliband was interviewed by Brand shortly before the 2015 election. In 2014, Burnham spoke up for Brand in a dispute about the comedian's housing arrangements.
Speaking on Friday, Burnham called Brand's crimes horrific and said he had been rightly held to account. He added that he had no idea of the full extent of what Brand was doing.
The police view
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he would not be surprised if more people came forward. He paid tribute to the courage of the women who went to police and testified at the trial.
Brand is also under investigation over two more rape allegations from two other women. Court documents from a hearing at Southwark Crown Court before the trial suggest that one of the women, who appeared in a Channel 4 documentary, was 16 when the alleged offence took place. Brand has denied the allegations.
The trial and the 2023 investigation
At a pre-trial hearing in October, Brand tried and failed to have the case thrown out. His lawyers argued that publicity after the Channel 4 programme and the newspaper reports meant he could not get a fair trial. Prosecutors opposed the application.
In September 2023, a joint investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches and the Times and Sunday Times carried accusations from four women against Brand, ranging from rape and sexual assault to emotional abuse. The actor and comedian denied the allegations. A jury found him guilty on Thursday of rape on one count and sexual assault on three, at the end of a four-week trial. The complainants at the criminal trial were not among the women in the media investigation.
Brand is in custody until sentencing on Monday. After the verdicts, Mr Justice Bennathan told him that a substantial prison sentence should be expected.
What the journalist says happened
Rosamund Urwin, who was involved in the 2023 media investigation into Brand, described the encounter in a Times and Sunday Times podcast on Thursday. She said she approached Ian Winter KC outside court after the jury delivered its verdicts and gave her name. By her account he answered with a "snarl" and told her: "I hope you're pleased with yourself".
Urwin said she cannot actually remember her own reply and has read it in reporting. According to that version, she said she was pleased that justice had been done. She said Winter answered that it had not, and used a profanity to suggest she was to blame.
Winter's response
Winter said the way matters had been characterised in the media meant they should be properly scrutinised. On Friday he said his professional duty required him to report the allegations to the Bar Standards Board himself, and that he has done so.
The regulator oversees barristers practising in England and Wales.
Source: BBC News