Russell Brand faces ‘at least 9 years behind bars’ for rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand could face “at least nine years” in prison for rape and sexual assault offences, a criminal defence solicitor has told GB News.

Speaking to the People’s Channel ahead of the actor and comedian’s sentencing later today, Marcus Johnstone, a criminal defence solicitor with over 20 years of experience, said the judge will face pressure to “make a point” about the length of the sentence.

After being found guilty of raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three women on Thursday, the actor and comedian has been held in the South London prison ahead of his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court.

Assessing the “complex exercise” the judge will face in sentencing Brand, Mr Johnstone told GB News they will consider how high his “culpability” is and whether there was an “abuse of trust”.

Mr Johnstone explained: “They’ll have a look at each offence separately. They’ll look at the rape as the main one because that’s the most serious one.

“If there’s abuse of trust, any previous violence against the victim, if it was video recorded, for example, then that would put it to a higher level of culpability.

“I think the only one that the prosecution may argue is that there was an abuse of trust. I’m not convinced it is in those circumstances.”

The solicitor said that because of Brand’s celebrity status, the judge will face “pressure” to hand down a significant sentence.

Mr Johnstone said: “Although it can go up to life, for a single offence of rape, it would normally be four to nine years in the guidelines. But I think because of who he is, because of the worldwide news on this, there will be some pressure on the judge, I think, to make a point here.

“And because of the sexual assault cases, I think it’s probably more towards nine years.”

However, Mr Johnstone explained that it could potentially be longer if the judge hands down sentences for three counts of sexual assault consecutively rather than concurrently.

He told GB News: “There is one other factor that’s worth considering, in that the judge does have the option to sentence consecutively.

“Nine years for rape, one year for each of the sexual assaults. That would be 12 years in total if they were consecutive, but quite often they do it concurrently, so they all run at the same time.

“So the person, Brand, would only spend nine years in prison because that’s the longest sentence. The other ones, three one-year sentences, would all be served at the same time that he’s serving the nine years.”

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Mr Johnstone said that in Brand’s case, there is a “reasonable chance” that the sentences could be handed down consecutively.

He said: “There is a reasonable chance one or two or three or four of them could be done consecutively, because it’s four different women, they don’t know one another, they’re not connected.

“There is a strong argument to say the judge could impose sentences consecutively, which, if anything, would then increase the length of the term.”

The solicitor predicted that whichever sentence Brand is given, there will be outcry “on both sides” of the argument.

He explained: “In the UK, our sentences are very, very low, but I think because of who he is, the judge will not want it to be appealed. I think whatever sentence he gets, there’s going to be an outcry.

“Some will say, ‘It’s too much, that’s ridiculous, it’s too long’, and some will say, ‘Why aren’t you throwing away the key? It’s too short.’

“You’re not going to satisfy everybody. But the judge will not want to be appealed on the sentence.”

“It won’t go too high because that will be appealed as manifestly excessive, and it won’t go too low because that will be appealed by the prosecution.

“You’ve got the various aggravating factors that’s going on here – there’s been no remorse, there’s been no guilty plea, I think it’s going to push it towards nine years.”