Russell Brand charged with additional rape offence

Russell Brand charged with additional rape offence
Credit: Reuters

UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Russell Brand has been charged with two further criminal offences, including one count of rape, the Metropolitan Police confirmed in a formal statement.

The Crown Prosecution Service has authorized an additional charge of rape and a charge of sexual assault pertaining to two more victims, the police force said in a recent statement.

In the history, the broadcaster, commedian, and actor entered a not shamefaced plea to five allegations involving four women two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and one case of nasty assault. 

In connection with the two new counts, Brand, 50, is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on January 20, 2026.

After reports from the Sunday Times, the Times, and Channel 4’s Dispatches in September 2023, detectives started looking into charges against Brand.

One lady is the subject of the new rape charge, which is supposed to have occurred between February 7, 2009, and March 1, 2009; another woman is the subject of the new sexual assault count, which is alleged to have occurred between August 31, 2009, and December 1, 2009.

The five initial charges, which are said to have occurred in central London and Bournemouth between 1999 and 2005, will go to trial at Southwark Crown Court on June 16, 2026.

Oxfordshire resident Brand is charged with physically assaulting a lady in the Westminster area in 2001 and raping a woman in Bournemouth in 1999.

The remaining counts concern the alleged rape and sexual assault of another woman in the Westminster region in 2004; a third claims he sexually attacked a woman in Westminster between 2004 and 2005. 

According to Det. Ch. Inspector Tariq Farooqi of the Metropolitan Police, officers with specialized training are assisting the women who have reported incidents.

What evidence has the CPS cited in authorising charges against Brand?

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has not intimately bared specific substantiation details in authorizing charges against Russell Brand, citing active proceedings and the need to cover his right to a fair trial. 

Prosecutors conducted a thorough examination of police- gathered material following the 2023 Channel 4 talkie and affiliated examinations, determining sufficient substantiation was for charges including rape and sexual assault from 1999- 2005 (and latterly 2009 additions), thinking it in the public interest to make without specifying substantiation statements, forensics, or documents. 

UK guidelines enjoin CPS from opining on substantiation strength pre-trial to avoid prejudice; details will crop only in court starting June 2026, where the execution must prove cases beyond reasonable doubt grounded on users’ accounts and confirmation findings from the Met Police inquiry.