Russell Brand tells jury friends won't defend him over sex crime allegations

Russell Brand's friends won't 'touch him with a bargepole' over alleged sex crimes, court hears In short: Russell Brand has taken the stand in his trial, telling the jury he could not convince any friends to defend him. The 51-year-old entertainer has denied charges of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault. The trial continues. Russell Brand has told a jury his friends and family have turned their back on him since a documentary aired allegations of his sexual offending, and would not defend him in court. The actor and comedian is on trial in London's Southwark Crown Court charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. The 51-year-old is accused of committing the crimes against six women in the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2009. Mr Brand has pleaded not guilty to all counts and maintains he never took part in non-consensual sexual activity. The prosecution has previously told the jury the six women did not know each other and came forward independently after seeing allegations about Mr Brand in a documentary and news articles. On Wednesday, Mr Brand took the stand as his defence case opened, telling the jury he blamed the documentary for the allegations against him. Mr Brand told the court the documentary had a "devastating" impact on his life and relationships with his friends and he could not convince anyone to give evidence on his behalf in court. Mr Brand's lawyer Ian Winter KC asked Mr Brand: "Will they touch you with a bargepole?" "No," Mr Brand replied. "I don't call it a documentary, I call it a TV show," Mr Brand later told the court. Brand denies rape in hotel room The court has previously heard evidence from a woman who claims Mr Brand raped her at a political conference in 1999. Mr Brand told the jury the "vivacious" and "loquacious" woman had consented because he was speaking to her during sex to "elicit approval", a practice he said he usually followed with women. "Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and indeed in many ways more important than sex itself," he told the court. Mr Brand also denied all other charges against him, including allegations that he grabbed the breasts of a woman before allegedly dragging her into a toilet at a bar and raping her. Mr Brand told the jury he did not do that and found it "disgusting behaviour" which was not only "obviously criminal but vulgar". "I invited her to go into the lavatory to fool around," he told the jury, adding she was "happy to do so". Mr Brand told the jury he was not famous or well-known at the time of the alleged offending, and did not reach "staggering fame'" until he married Katy Perry in 2010. Brand admits being 'promiscuous' but denies having goals with women He told the jury he was "extremely promiscuous" when he was younger, and at the time of the alleged offending, but denied claims, made by a witness earlier in the trial, that he had a goal of sleeping with 5,000 women in his lifetime. Under cross examination, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC put to Mr Brand that he was not prepared to leave any situation with a woman "without some sort of conquest". "The way that's been characterised is so nefarious, unpleasant and ugly, that it's difficult to answer in earnest,"he replied. Mr Brand told the jury while he did not previously have much recollection of these events, after reviewing new disclosures, watching video interviews of the complainants and visiting some of the locations where the alleged crimes took place, he could now remember some of the events. "My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations, the impact of these allegations and accusations," he told the court. "I have devoted myself to these matters." Mr Brand chose to stand for several hours as he gave evidence with his hands clasped behind his back. The judge praised the actor and comedian for speaking loudly and told him "not to be shy" when it came to describing his sexual encounters. Outside, as Mr Brand entered the crown court to give evidence, he told reporters it would be "inappropriate" to say much about the case. "Other than I'm very grateful that today is the day for truth and justice,' he said. "And we are blessed that as yet we have a system that can accommodate such things." The trial continues.