Sexual misconduct allegations against Brand ‘poisoned the wells’, court told
Allegations about Russell Brand’s sexual conduct in 2023 “poisoned the wells” of justice, his trial has heard.
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trial → poison → justice
Quoting it, he said: “What I insist upon here, now that I am bringing this portion of my discussion to a close, is this unmanly attempt of his, in his concluding pages, to cut the ground from under my feet … this I call poisoning the wells.”
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I → quote → wells
He said that 2023 reporting of sexual misconduct allegations in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and Times and Sunday Times stories had “poisoned the well of justice” in Brand’s case by prompting the women to come forward with accusations afterwards.
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reporting → say → accusations
He told jurors: “They poisoned the wells in the hope and intention that other people come forward and make allegations against him.”
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people → tell → him
Brand denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault against six women, in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999.
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Brand → deny → 1999
Mr Winter said there is a “curious feature” to the evidence from the complainants, adding: “They have all given evidence that Mr Brand’s behaviour was normal either during and or after the incidents.”
He added: “That, we suggest, is something that simply cannot have occurred if he is guilty.”
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he → say → incidents
The barrister said the fact he behaved normally showed Brand believed they had consented.
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they → say → ?
He added: “He couldn’t have been behaving normally if he knew they were not.
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they → add → ?
“He obviously genuinely believed that they were consenting because that’s the only thing that would explain why his behaviour was normal.”
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behaviour → believe → ?
The barrister added that there is “no evidence he is some sort of psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal”.
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it → add → people
Mr Winter said the complainants did not make the “independent decision” to speak out.
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complainants → say → decision
The barrister added: “Living a highly promiscuous life is entirely lawful, however morally distasteful you may find it.”
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you → add → it
He added: “The question for you is can you possibly be sure in this case that out of the many, many women who voluntarily had sex with Mr Brand, he raped just three of them.”
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he → add → them
Mr Winter said the 2023 allegations against Brand had had a “truly devastating effect” on him, reminding jurors of the defendant’s recounting of being blocked from visiting his baby son when he was having open heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
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he → say → Hospital
He said: “That tells you the extent to which public opinion has been perverted and corrupted.”
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opinion → say → which
Of the allegations, he said the women “think it now”, but does not “reflect what they were actually thinking back then”.
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they → say → what
He added: “That is the precise consequence of the poisoning of the well.”
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That → add → well
Brand respects it when a woman says no and sought “approbation and adoration” from women, Mr Winter said.
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Winter → respect → women
He told jurors: “He respects it when a women says no so that makes him someone who is not a rapist.”
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who → tell → no
The barrister said: “He was seeking the approval in the sex, it’s the approval, it’s the ‘yes I will have sex with you’ and that’s what he said in his evidence.”
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he → say → evidence
Mr Winter referred to Brand’s evidence during which he said that consent is more important than the sex itself.
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consent → refer → sex
The barrister told jurors: “What matters is he (Brand) had an immense amount of sex and none of it was unlawful.”
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none → tell → it
He added: “Disgusting, distasteful, immoral, who cares?
“
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who → add → ?
It’s irrelevant to your consideration.”
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It → ’ → consideration
Mr Winter put to jurors: “Why is it that only three rapes in 10 years?”
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it → put → years
The barrister also pointed to the evidence of Mr Brand’s wife, adding: “She fell in love with that man in full knowledge of what he was doing.
“She married him, she bore him three children.”
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she → point → children
He added that she would not have done so if Brand was “guilty as charged”.
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Brand → add → ?
The prosecution reached for Brand’s 2007 memoir My Booky Wook in a “bid of desperation”, Mr Winter said.
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Winter → reach → desperation
He told jurors: “We suggest in the greatest respect that in a bid of desperation, the prosecution reached for Mr Brand’s book.”
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prosecution → tell → book
Mr Winter said that Brand wrote a “funny book” which “contained jokes”.
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which → say → jokes
He referred to a passage from the book in which the defendant wrote “This is the exact moment when I decided to act gay to attract girls” next to a young picture of himself.
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I → refer → himself
The barrister added: “It was so obviously a joke…
“The joke is that it didn’t work.”
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it → add → ?
Also with them was Gallacher’s father, Ryder Cup-winning golfer Bernard Gallacher, 77, who put his hand on his daughter’s back as they exited a silver Mercedes and walked towards the steps.
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they → win → steps
The trial continues.
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trial → continue → ?
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