Russell Brand appeared in Southwark Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday 14 October) for the first day of his trial, facing three counts of rape and additional sexual offence allegations.

The 51‑year‑old comedian and actor is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. Six women have alleged offences that span from 1999 to 2009. Prosecuting counsel Riel Karmy‑Jones KC told the court that the complainants “did not know each other” and came forward independently.

According to the BBC, the jury heard details of the alleged conduct. One woman claims Brand raped her after a Labour Party conference in 1999. The court heard that Brand’s former flatmate, Mark Pinheiro, told jurors Brand had said he may have “gone a bit too far” with a woman at the event. “He said that things got a little bit heated and a little bit out of hand, and he thinks that maybe he did go a little bit too far. Those were his words – ‘I think I may have gone a bit too far’,” Pinheiro recounted.

Brand is also accused of indecently assaulting an MTV worker in 2004 and committing sexual assault while visiting Capital Radio in the same year.

A fifth complainant met Brand after his performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in London in 2009. Their initial encounter was consensual, but the prosecution alleges Brand later raped her anally. The woman said she “spent years blaming herself.” A year after the incident, Brand reportedly sent her a text: “I wanna push you further.” She replied, “I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal,” to which Brand allegedly responded, “I’m sorry.”

“The circumstances of the offending were as wide and as varied as the defendant’s career,” Karmy‑Jones told the court. “His desire, strong desire, for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious.

She described Brand as “ruthless, calculated and manipulative,” adding that he could be “nice when he wanted to be; funny – undoubtedly – charming, likeable even, when he wanted something in return. [But he would also be ‘demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite – childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met’”.

The trial is expected to continue for six weeks. Brand denies all the allegations against him.

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