The officer who led the investigation into Russell Brand has said that the Metropolitan Police have received “several reports during the trial and since the trial” following the disgraced comedian’s conviction and sentence.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, Det Supt Andy Furphy said that officers were in the “process of triaging” those reports and were “looking at exactly what we’ve got, whether they’re information that points to behaviour or whether they could constitute a criminal offence, so our work isn’t done.”
Brand is already being investigated over rape allegations from two more women. He has been interviewed under caution in connection to those allegations.
On Monday, he was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison, after being convicted of rape and sexual assault.
In his sentencing remarks, judge Joel Bennathan described Brand as a “sexual predator” and criticised his “staggering arrogance”.
The 51-year-old was sentenced to nine years for rape, with an additional 18 months, nine months and eight months for three counts of sexual assault. The latter sentences are to run concurrently.
He was found guilty of the charges involving four women between 2004 and 2009.
Asked by BBC Breakfast how the women in the case who gave evidence in the trial were coping, Furphy said: “Some have found it deeply distressing because of the amount of media attention wrapped around it”.
“Even Russell Brand himself before and during trial was putting material online, but we continue to support them.”
Furphy noted how the conviction “could not have been achieved” without their “bravery, their courage, their resilience throughout the whole criminal justice process”.
He continued: “It’s deeply personal and quite harrowing to be a victim of rape and sexual assault, and to have to tell anybody about it, let alone police officers.
“But I’m glad they did. I’m glad they put their trust in us.”
A Met spokesperson confirmed that “several people have contacted the investigation team during and since the trial to provide information or report a potential criminal allegation”.
They added that “detectives are assessing this information as part of their ongoing enquiries”.
‘Made money throughout the process’
MP Dame Caroline Dinenage has reiterated her concerns about the fact Brand was able to post videos online in the build-up to and during his trial to his millions of followers.
“This does continue to be an issue that he has made money throughout the process on his social media platform,” she told BBC Breakfast.
“It just felt very odd that during the height of when there was a police investigation and some really serious allegations in the paper, that he was able to go online to his two and a half million followers, denying everything and putting his side of the story forward.
“That was an opportunity that his victims didn’t have.”
In September 2023, after the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches allegations were made against Brand, Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee chair Dame Caroline wrote to social media companies Rumble, X, TikTok and Meta.
She asked if they would follow YouTube in cutting off Brand’s income on their platforms. Rumble publicly refused, and X said it does not take action against accounts that have not broken its rules or the law. TikTok said he had never been monetised there.
“We know that he had used his following [online] to try and cow people into silence,” added Dame Caroline.
