Met police chief calls for more victims to come forward in Russell Brand rape conviction

Met police chief calls for more victims to come forward in Russell Brand case

Met police commissioner Mark Rowley has called for anyone with fresh allegations against convicted rapist Russell Brand to come forward after the former comedian was convicted of rape and sexual assault. Brand, 51, was found guilty of raping a woman at his luxury London townhouse and sexually assaulting three women at his workplaces, a radio station and TV studio. The Met has submitted files to the Crown Prosecution Service regarding two further rape allegations.

Rowley told Times Radio on Friday that there are "two more rape allegations that we're looking at" and encouraged anyone else to come forward if they have any other allegations. He later added on BBC Breakfast that he "clearly wouldn't be surprised if many more came forward."

The conviction followed a 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and Times and Sunday Times reports that aired allegations against Brand. Dorothy Byrne, former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, warned of a power disparity between high-profile talent and younger staff on short-term contracts, which she said often prevents victims from speaking out due to fear of professional retaliation. She noted that while larger organisations have seen improvements, young women and men at risk remain in smaller organisations.

Byrne hoped the Brand case could be a turning point, saying some men who have behaved badly may now feel frightened after seeing "brave young women come forward to the police." Rowley expressed concern that some trial reports were "getting very close to victim blaming" and said he strongly supports the victims' commissioner, Claire Waxman's push for a legal duty for judges to issue directions on rape myths.

Jess Phillips, a Labour MP and former safeguarding minister, described the trial as a "rare insight for the public into the kind of things that get said during rape trials," noting that the defence tried a line of questioning about why there aren't more women if the allegations were true.