Russell Brand was a ‘manipulative’ predator with a ‘voracious’ sexual appetite, court told

Russell Brand was a ‘manipulative’ predator with a ‘voracious’ sexual appetite, court told The celebrity, who denies all the allegations, told friends he aspired to sleep with 5,000 women, the court heard - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Content warning: The following article contains details which some readers may find upsetting. Russell Brand was a “manipulative” predator and would act as if nothing was wrong after he used women to satisfy his “voracious” sexual appetite, a court heard. Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC described the celebrity as “demanding, entitled” and “child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met” as he stands trial accused of a string of sexual offences in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The 51-year-old denies offences against six women between 1999 and 2009, including three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one allegation of indecent assault. Opening the case against the former Big Brother’s Big Mouth presenter, Ms Karmy-Jones said the claims facing Brand happened as “his public profile was taking off” and he progressed from a stand-up comedian to a TV presenter and, later, a Hollywood movie star. “Some of the women involved protested and said no, others had no opportunity to react to his advances, but it mattered not to the defendant,” she said, adding the alleged offences took place in a number of locations, including a hotel room and a toilet cubicle. “Regardless of who they were and what they said or did, the defendant was not deterred. His desire for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious. “He could be nice when he wanted to be – funny, undoubtedly; charming, likeable even – when he wanted something in return. But then demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite – childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met. “He was ruthless, he was calculated, and he was manipulative, and the prosecution say – a sexual predator.” She told the panel of eight men and four women at Southwark Crown Court that he bragged to friends he wanted to bed 5,000 women in his lifetime on the way to a Labour Party conference, where he is accused of raping a woman. He allegedly told them “all you have to do is tell them what they need to hear”, Ms Karmy-Jones said. She said the woman, who she described as “naive and inexperienced”, assumed Brand was gay after he struck up a conversation with her at a fringe event at the political conference in Bournemouth in 1999. She agreed to continue their conversation at her hotel, but found him partially undressed “prancing around the room – a bit like an ostrich, doing silly walks like Basil Fawlty” after she went to the toilet, Ms Karmy-Jones said. The woman recalled the “weight of him on top of her” as he pushed her on the bed and grabbed her breasts, she said, adding: “He was trying to kiss her, he was putting his fingers in her mouth and doing things with his tongue that were horrible – like a lizard.” After the alleged rape, without a condom, he told her not to worry because he is regularly tested for STDs, the prosecutor said. Giving evidence on Wednesday afternoon, Brand’s friend Mark Pinheiro told jurors the comedian “cowered” from police sirens in the car on the drive out of Bournemouth. He claimed Brand had not returned to their shared accommodation for the night and returned “ruffled and discombobulated” and eager to leave in the morning. Later, when they were living together, Brand told him he had slept with a woman at the event and admitted, “I think things may have gone a little bit too far,” Mr Pinheiro told the jury. Under cross-examination about the reliability of his account, Mr Pinheiro told jurors: “I haven’t alleged Russell did anything. I have merely described Russell’s behaviour and what words are ascribed to him, and his behaviour the morning after the night we didn’t see him. “All I have volunteered is information; I haven’t accused Russell of rape.” The actor is accused of telling another woman, “Oh come on, don’t be a spoil sport, you want to,” before he allegedly orally raped her in the toilet of a Soho bar in 2004. Ms Karmy-Jones said he had a “big, weird grin” on his face after suddenly lurched forward and squeezed her breasts in the middle of a conversation and pulled her into the toilet. Inside, he allegedly unzipped his trousers and forced the woman’s head towards his crotch, the jury were told. Another woman was left star-struck when he picked her out and invited her for backstage drinks after she went to see his comedy show at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009, Ms Karmy-Jones said. He had allegedly told the audience that if any of them fancy him, “You probably can have sex with me, my age range is from 16 to death.” As she was leaving, Brand pointed at her in the foyer and said “you” before she was invited to have drinks at the backstage bar, the court heard. Later, the woman had a consensual threesome with Brand in his dressing room. The woman, who “greatly admired and fancied” Brand, agreed to meet the star again, the jury heard. But when she arrived at his address in Hampstead, he told her to shower and brush her teeth, which made her feel “grubby and dirty”, the prosecutor said. Then, during intercourse, he removed the condom and “without warning, without asking, and without her consent, penetrated her anally”, Ms Karmy-Jones said. She alleges Brand looked “horrified” afterwards and then allegedly forced her to “clean up the mess”. During a chance encounter in Scotland, the woman said she messaged Brand: “Why are you even messaging me?”, and he replied: “Because you’re dirty, and I wanna push you further.” The court heard she says she replied: “I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal,” and she says Brand replied: “I’m sorry.” A woman who worked at MTV also alleges Brand once tried to drag her into a toilet cubicle in the early 2000s after she complimented his “I Am Spartacus” T-shirt. He is also accused of sniggering after he kissed and groped a radio station worker in 2004 or 2005 as coworkers looked on, pushing her “up against a wall, where he kissed her ‘sloppily and aggressively’.” Ms Karmy-Jones told the jury: “These women meant nothing to him and perhaps he found their protestations funny? Funny as a display for his friends. The other men who were with him also joined in the laughter.” Afterwards, the woman was left feeling “dirty and disgusting”, she said, adding: “She was shocked at what had just happened – she was in complete disbelief that not one of the people with Brand had tried to help her or to stop it.” The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, has accused Brand of sexual assault after he demanded a massage and placed his head directly in her groin area in 2009. Brand, who listened intently in the dock, gave prepared statements to the police and insists he has never engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity, and claims some accounts have been reimagined following a documentary, the court heard. He told reporters he felt “concerned but hopeful” and “blessed” as he arrived at court wearing a dark pinstriped suit and striped shirt on Wednesday. His wife, Laura Gallacher, sat through the evidence in the public gallery with members of his entourage. The star, who lives in Florida, became one of Britain’s best-known comedians in the 2000s and hosted his own show on BBC Radio 2. He later took Hollywood acting roles in films, including 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall and 2012 musical comedy Rock of Ages. The trial, scheduled to last six to eight weeks, continues.