RUSSELL Brand has been found guilty of a rape and three sexual assaults following a month-long trial.
having been remanded in custody today after the jury delivered its verdicts.
What has Russell Brand been convicted of?
At today, a jury found .
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for eight and a half hours after 16 days of hearing evidence.
Brand preyed on women between 1999 and 2009 and used his growing fame – from presenting Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Hollywood movies – to target the victims.
This was part of his depraved campaign to sleep with 5,000 women as he sought to satisfy his “voracious” sexual appetite.
The offences took place in different locations, including a station, the set of a DVD recording and Brand’s home address.
What did the judge say?
Mr Justice Bennathan ruled that Brand must be remanded into custody until sentencing, which is typical in rape and sexual assault cases.
Brand’s sentence will be announced on Monday, with the judge saying that it would be lengthy.
Brand asked for bail over the weekend to explain the convictions to his children, but this was denied.
Mr Bennathan said “I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course” but said Brand “has considerable resources”.
He added: “Whatever the good intentions of the family and the defendant today, I think there are substantial grounds to fear he might in the end not feel able to come along and face his sentence.”
Read more of The Sun’s coverage on Brand’s trial…
- Russell Brand has on a string of victims as part of a depraved campaign
- The 51-year-old has also including a 16-year-old schoolgirl
- Brand gave a as he was sent down
- Watch our exclusive coverage From The Newsroom
- Our reporter reveals
Sentencing guidelines for rape
The maximum possible sentence for rape is life imprisonment, which is reserved for the most serious of cases, which include serious physical and mental harm.
Rape offences are divided into three categories which influence how long a sentence will be.
Under the Sentencing Council’s rape sentencing guidelines, the starting point for an adult offender ranges from five to 15 years’ custody, depending on the offence category.
Previous convictions, offending while on bail, remorse, age and a guilty plea can affect the final sentence where relevant.
Sentencing guidelines for sexual assault
For cases of sexual assault, sentences can be as little as a community order to a maximum of 10 years in custody.
Depending on the severity of the offence – if it was a sustained incident or particularly violent – offences are also divided into three categories.
Along with Brand’s culpability, any aggravating factors such as how vulnerable the victim was or if he made any threats, will also need to be determined to reach an appropriate sentence.
