More women contact UK police after Russell Brand rape case

LONDON: More women have come forward since the start of Russell Brand's rape and assault trial, a UK police chief said Tuesday, as the disgraced TV star began a 10-year jail sentence.

The reports of fresh complaints came as Brand's defence lawyer faced a storm of criticism for his comments and line of questioning in court, reopening the debate about victim shaming in Britain.

Detective Inspector Andy Furphy from the London Metropolitan Police said two further allegations against Brand were already being investigated and "we've had several reports in during the trial and since the verdict" on Thursday.

Brand, who has reinvented himself as an online Christian guru, was on Monday jailed for 10 years and six months after being found guilty of one rape and three sexual assaults committed against four women between 2004 and 2009.

The judge described him as a "sexual predator" who had shown "staggering arrogance" and "contempt" for his victims.

But defence lawyer Ian Winter has been sharply criticised for telling the trial Brand's victims were "not particularly vulnerable at all" and that he could not be guilty of rape as his accusers had not "resisted or screamed or even tried to leave."

UK deputy prime minister Lucy Powell said she found some of the defence's comments at the trial "incredibly depressing."

Support organisations said such tactics harked back to a previous era when victims were reluctant to come forward for fear of being quizzed in court on their behaviour and sexual history.

Victim Support said it had been "appalled, but not surprised, by the rape myths, misconceptions and stereotypes deployed by the defence" during Brand's trial.

It added that women should not have had to endure "disgraceful attempts to blame and discredit them" in court.

"Rape myths and stereotypes are still used day in, day out in sexual violence trials. The defendant's profile in this case has shone a spotlight on a systemic failing faced by victim-survivors across the country," it said.

Brand was charged last year after being exposed in 2023 by journalists from the Sunday Times, The Times and the Channel 4 Dispatches programme, leading to women coming forward to make complaints to police.

"Throughout Russell Brand's trial, we saw rape myths in action: Why didn't she scream? Why didn't she fight back?

"Why did she wait so long to report it? Why did she maintain contact with him afterwards?" wrote Ciara Bergman, head of Rape Crisis England & Wales, in The iPaper after Brand's conviction.

"These were all introduced as ways of discrediting the survivors and/or introducing doubt into the minds of jurors," she said.

Bergman, however, added the guilty verdict on the rape charge was "important" as the complainant had earlier had consensual sex with Brand.

"It suggests understanding among jurors that there is no such thing as blanket or automatic consent," she said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Saturday the government must look at changing rape trials to "make sure they do not leave the woman feeling like she is on trial in court as has been the experience of people in the past."

Describing Brand's actions as "horrifying", he pledged to introduce specialist rape and serious sexual offence teams in every police force by the end of 2027.

Rights of Women said the Brand trial highlighted the "urgent need for a trauma-informed justice system."

Giving evidence in court often meant women who had already "experienced significant trauma" were "re-victimised by the processes that should bring them both safety and justice", it said.