Russell Brand sentenced to 10+ years in prison for rape
What's the story
Disgraced actor and comedian Russell Brand has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison for raping a fan and sexually assaulting three other women during incidents dating between 2004 and 2009. The 51-year-old was found guilty after a trial at Southwark Crown Court, where he was described as a "ruthless and manipulative sexual predator."
Timeline
More on Brand's conviction
The celebrity was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan and sexually assaulting three women in separate incidents.
He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.
Following his convictions, the Metropolitan Police revealed that Brand is being investigated over two further rape allegations.
Court proceedings
Six women testified against Brand
Over the past four weeks, six women testified against Brand in a London court, in a trial that garnered massive media attention.
A jury found him 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 sexually assaulting three women between 2004 and 2009.
Survivor testimonies
'It's something I carry with me every day'
Before the judge handed down the sentence, one of the women who brought the case against Brand gave a victim impact statement to the court.
The prosecution read out an impact statement from the 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."
Legal proceedings
Prosecution called for a long sentence
After the victim statements, both the defense and prosecution teams were given a chance to make their final statements.
The prosecution called for a long sentence, citing aggravating circumstances in the anal rape case such as Brand removing a condom.
The defense argued that Brand was "a fundamentally different person" from who he was at the time of the crimes.