British comedian Russell Brand sentenced to over 10 years for rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand, the raunchy, irreverent British comedian who became a celebrity darling in the early 2000s, has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison after being found guilty on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault."The total sentence is one of ten years, six months," said Judge Justice Bennathan on handing down the sentence at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday.Brand, 51, was a career chameleon who went from stand-up comic and MTV host to a political analyst esteemed by Britain's left, only to become a conspiracy theorist and Christian convert beloved by the U.S.right.But critics of Brand said there was always a clear thread of misogyny running through his comedy routines, and that his mistreatment of women had been an open secret for decades.Over the past four weeks, six women testified against the comedian in court in London, in a trial that garnered massive media attention.A jury found Brand guilty last week on four of the seven counts against him.

He was found guilty of raping a woman he'd met at one of his shows in 2009 and of sexually assaulting three women – at a bar, a radio station and a TV studio – between 2004 and 2009.Brand denies all charges and said he never had non-consensual sex.Before the judge handed down the statement, one of the women who brought the case against Brand gave a victim impact statement to the court.None of the women have been publicly named.The prosecution read out an impact statement from the one complainant, who Brand was found guilty of anally raping at his home in 2009.

In her statement she said: "It's something I carry with me every day and it often feels never-ending.""I doubt my ability to make good decisions and no longer trust my instinct in the way I did," her statement said, adding that because of Brand's fame she didn't think she'd be believed if she reported him.Another complainant, who Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting at a bar in 2004 when he grabbed her breasts, said the c...