Russell Brand, the comedian, actor and conspiracy-minded YouTuber, was sentenced on Monday to 10 and a half years in prison for the rape and sexual assaults that he was convicted of last week.
The presiding judge, Joel Bennathan, said in a sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London that Mr. Brand, 51, was “a sexual predator” with a “casual, arrogant disregard” for women’s wishes. “Your status protected you until 2023,” when accusations of assault were reported in the British news media, the judge said.
Under British sentencing guidelines, Mr. Bennathan could have sentenced Mr. Brand to life in prison for the rape conviction, but judges have significant leeway in issuing sentences, and those for rape are typically four to 19 years.
The decision came four days after a jury found Mr. Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, in a trial in which six women testified about episodes that they said occurred between 2004 and 2009.
The judge said the women’s testimony showed Mr. Brand’s “staggering arrogance” and his belief that “fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked, unhindered by the rules by which decent people live.”
Mr. Brand denied all of the charges and said that either the events had not occurred or that the women were reinterpreting consensual sexual acts. The jury found Mr. Brand not guilty of two other counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Under British law, anyone who makes sexual assault accusations has lifelong anonymity outside the courtroom regardless of a jury’s verdict….
image…Russell Brand outside the London court last month as the trial was underway.Credit…Brook Mitchell/Agence France-Presse — Getty
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