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Russell Brand took the stand in his criminal trial in London on Wednesday, denying all accusations against him and revealing that he was not able to convince anyone to testify on his behalf.
He was called by his lawyer,
Ian Winter KC, as the first witness as his defense began to lay out its case, according to Sky News. Winter began by asking Brand if he had committed each of the alleged offenses in the case, to which he repeatedly replied: “No.” He was then questioned about his prominence in the mid-2000s, with Brand saying that his marriage to Katy Perry in 2010 brought about “staggering fame.”
He then revealed that not a single person with relevant information agreed to testify on his behalf in the trial. “My entire life has been consumed by these allegations,” he told Southwark Crown Court. “I have devoted myself to these matters.”
On Tuesday, judge Mr Justice Bennathan reduced one of Brand’s seven charges from indecent assault to attempted indecent assault, telling jurors that there was “insufficient evidence” regarding an alleged 2001 incident involving a MTV employee. He has also been charged with three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case involves six female plaintiffs, all of whom are given automatic lifelong anonymity according to U.K. law, and relates to alleged offenses that occurred between 1999 and 2009.
Outside the Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, Brand told journalists (via Sky News): “Due to the circumstances of today, I think it would be inappropriate for me to say anything other than I am very grateful that today’s a day for truth and justice and we are blessed that as yet we have a system that can accommodate such things.”
The prosecution has set out its case over the past two weeks. In an opening statement, Riel Karmy-Jones KC detailed each accusation against Brand, calling him “ruthless and calculated” with an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact. The first complainant alleges he raped her at the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth after asking her to take photos of him half-naked. The second alleged incident involves a woman who was working at MTV in 2001, where she claims Brand grabbed her and tried to pull her into a toilet. The third woman alleges that Brand squeezed her breasts at a party in Soho in 2004 and then orally raped her in a toilet. The fourth allegation occurred at Capital Radio in 2004/2005, where Brand allegedly pushed a woman against a wall and “aggressively” kissed her while grabbing “her body, at her breasts, sides and buttocks,” the prosecution said. The fifth woman alleges that Brand anally raped her in 2009 after they had consensual vaginal sex. The sixth claim comes from a woman who alleges Brand demanded a massage from her while she was on a work assignment in 2009.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
