LAST UPDATE | 53 mins ago

A WOMAN WHO says she was raped by Russell Brand claims the comedian apologised for treating her “like an animal”, a court has heard.

The 51-year-old is on trial accused of attacking six women in incidents between 1999 and 2009, as his showbiz career was flourishing. 

He denies three allegations of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one allegation of indecent assault.

Brand allegedly had sex with the woman without consent after meeting her when she was in the audience at a show in London’s Hammersmith Apollo in 2009.

Southwark Crown Court heard she had a threesome with Brand backstage, then had consensual sex with the star at his home in Hampstead, north London.

But she says Brand then raped her at his home, looked “horrified” afterwards, and then allegedly forced her to “clean up the mess”.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said Brand texted the woman the following year after seeing each other in a chance encounter in Scotland.

She said she messaged Brand: “Why are you even messaging me?”, and he replied: “Because you’re dirty, and I wanna push you further.”

The court heard she says she replied: “I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal”, and she says Brand replied: “I’m sorry.”

The court heard Brand had concluded his 2009 show at the Hammersmith Apollo by telling the audience: “If you see me out in the foyer and you think ‘I really fancy him and would like to have sex with him, but I can’t because it is Russell Brand….’ you probably can have sex with me.

“My age range is from 16 to death.”

‘Spent years blaming herself’

In the bar afterwards, the woman said she bumped into Brand and kissed him, despite having a boyfriend at the time.

It is said a member of Brand’s security pointed at the woman and invited her for drinks backstage, and the “star struck” woman then agreed to a threesome with him and another woman.

She refused to have full sex with Brand on that occasion, and Karmy-Jones said Brand asked for her phone number and later invited her to his home.

She claims Brand forced her to shower while he watched, and alleges she was raped after they had consensual sex.

The court heard she later struggled with an alcohol addiction, and “spent months and years blaming herself for what had happened”.

A court artist sketch of Russell Brand from 12 October Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, accuses Brand of sexual assault as he was filming for a project in 2009.

Karmy-Jones said while he was filming, he was “friendly and nice” with children who were present, but became “angry, fed up, and petulant” when they left.

She said the woman was informed Brand was “unhappy” and the situation would not improve unless she gave him a massage.

The prosecutor said: “She thought they must be joking but then realised they meant it.

“She said no, and they said she had to.”

It is said Brand walked up to a chair the woman was sitting on and placed his head directly into her groin area.

“He was kneeling at the side of her with his forehead on her right thigh and his shoulders pressed against her left thigh”, said Karmy-Jones.

The alleged victim says she “froze”, as Brand “pressed his face into her groin area”.

“When he spoke she could feel his breath”, she added.

‘He was ruthless, calculated and manipulative’

Opening the case against him this morning, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said Brand used humour and his “charm” in the constant pursuit of sex.

She said the claims facing Brand happened as “his public profile was taking off as he was progressing from doing gigs as a stand-up comedian at pubs and clubs to a TV presenter, an actor and Hollywood movie star”.

She told jurors: “Offending took place in a number of locations: a hotel room, workplaces, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.

“Some of the women involved protested and said no, others had no opportunity to react to his advances, but it mattered not to the defendant.

“Regardless of who they were and what they said or did, the defendant was not deterred.

“His desire for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious.

“He could be nice when he wanted to be – funny, undoubtedly; charming, likeable even – when he wanted something in return. But then demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite – childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met.

“He was ruthless, he was calculated, and he was manipulative, and the prosecution say – a sexual predator.”

She told the court Brand would “tell women what they wanted to hear, be nice, be charming”, and to others he appeared to take an interest in a cause they were promoting.

“Sometimes he might even have made sexual advances within minutes of meeting them”, she said

“But every time he had identified his target, he was intent on trying to fulfil his sexual desire.

“After the event, he would appear indifferent, normal and untroubled by what had occurred, sometimes leaving promptly after it, sometimes making an excuse to get away or sometimes simply continuing to act as though nothing wrong had happened.

“He cared not who the woman was, or what state she was left in, or how he had left her feeling.

“Uppermost in his mind was his insatiable desire to get what he wanted with whomever he wanted it from.”

Jurors heard one of the alleged victims told Brand that she “didn’t want to do this” as he was raping her, and he is alleged to have replied: “Oh come on, come on, don’t be a spoilsport.”

“To the defendant, women were simply a means to an end,” added Karmy-Jones.

‘Like it was a joke’

A woman who encountered Brand at a radio station in the mid-2000s said she recognised him from his work on Channel 4’s Big Brother spin-off shows.

Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court with his wife Laura Gallacher. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

She says Brand “grabbed her by the face with both hands” before he “pushed her up against a wall, where he kissed her sloppily and aggressively”, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told the court.

“She remembers it being very wet. During this assault he also grabbed her body, at her breasts, sides and buttocks aggressively.

“She tried to push him off, but he was too strong and he continued to kiss her on her face, and down her neck and onto her chest area, grabbing her bum, moving his mouth towards her cleavage, grabbing her breast so hard that it was painful.

“It was rough, fast and frenzied.”

The woman said she looked to members of Brand’s entourage, “hoping they would intervene”, but she claims they took no action.

“She finally managed to push him away, saying words to him to the effect of ‘f*** off’”, added Karmy-Jones.

“Mr Brand stumbled backwards at that final push and just sniggered – like it was a joke.”

Brand is facing allegations he raped a woman after performing a show at the 1999 Labour Party conference, and allegedly sexually assaulted women at a radio station and in a Soho bar.

The Essex-born comedian was once a fixture in the British media, presenting on Channel 4 and fronting his own BBC Radio 2 show.

He presented the Brit Awards, Comic Relief and the MTV Music Video Awards, and also took on starring roles in Hollywood films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rock Of Ages, and Arthur.

Brand, who has become a podcaster in recent years, now lives in Florida in the US and was accompanied to court by his wife Laura Gallacher.

As he arrived at the central London court on Wednesday morning, he said: “Today I feel blessed, I feel of course concerned, but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved.

“That’s my prayer.”

The trial continues.