'Ruthless, calculated and manipulative': prosecution opens Russell Brand rape trial calling him a 'sexual predator' who wanted 5,000 conquests
Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court, where a prosecutor told jurors he was "child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met.Russell Brand whose wife Laura Gallacher, 38, is standing by him throughout the trial, with an associate saying it was "the only decision she would possibly ever make.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday that Russell Brand exploited fame and charm to assault six women across a decade, treating them as a 'means to an end'. Brand, 51, denies three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women between 1999 and 2009. His wife Laura Gallacher sat alongside him before he took his place in the dock. Karmy-Jones told jurors he would appear 'indifferent, normal and untroubled' after each alleged assault.
Brand allegedly bragged to friends he was an 'expert pick-up artist' who intended to bed 5,000 women, insisting: 'All you have to do is tell them what they need to hear.'
The earliest allegation dates to 1999, when Brand allegedly raped a woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party's annual conference in Bournemouth, where he was performing at a fringe event.
A third complainant alleges Brand orally raped her in a London bar toilet in 2004, telling her 'don't be a spoilsport' when she asked him to stop.
