As I looked over again at Brand to see if he was going to offer any reaction, he appeared quite pale and closed his eyes. His wife was trying to see his expression from her seat behind the dock.
After a lengthy break in proceedings, the moment of truth approached. We all filed back into court along with Brand’s family and friends.
As he was brought back into court, he nodded at his wife and sat still, staring intently ahead of him, waiting to hear his fate as the Judge began to pass sentence.
“You were clever and, in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic, said Mr Justice Bennathan. “You had also become a sexual predator.”
And the Judge proceeded to explain his reasoning, accusing Brand of “staggering arrogance” and decrying that arrogance, saying: “Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no and to demand justice from the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Russell Brand, act without their consent”.
However, I was struck by how the Judge gave him credit for his efforts to reform his character in recent years, earning him a discount on the final total.
The Judge ordered Brand to stand, then handed him a jail term of 10 and a half years.
I had predicted 10-12 years, so the sentence is definitely on the lower end of what I’d imagined. Whether it is referred to the Attorney General for undue leniency remains to be seen.