Laura Gallacher pictured arriving at husband Russell Brand’s sentencing despite uncertainty over attendance

The 39-year-old mother of three had pledged to remain loyal to the convicted rapist but sources suggested she was deeply conflicted about facing the courtroom again.

A source close to Ms Gallacher told The Sun: “Her heart has been smashed into a million pieces over the last 48 hours.”

The same source described her state since Thursday’s guilty verdict as “an emotional blur,” adding: “It has come as a massive shock and Laura feels as if she’s been living in a trance ever since.”

Brand had reportedly pleaded with his wife to attend, as he does not know when he will next see her.

Relatives of Ms Gallacher are also said to be gravely worried that Brand has manipulated her into dismissing the jury’s findings entirely.

Those close to the family believe the 51-year-old comedian wields such a powerful hold over his wife that she remains unable to accept his guilt.

One family friend told the Daily Mail: “Russell gets what Russell wants. He has that charm and swagger, and Laura is besotted with him.”

The friend added: “She goes along with what he wants, it’s like he has totally brainwashed her.”

Those around Gallacher have suggested that Brand’s time behind bars could finally provide her with the distance needed to reassess their relationship free from his direct influence.

The daughter of former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, she is said to remain utterly convinced of her husband’s innocence despite the convictions.

The jury’s split verdict has reportedly hardened Ms Gallacher’s conviction that her husband was wrongfully found guilty.

Brand was acquitted of two further rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault, and according to friends, Ms Gallacher interprets those three acquittals as evidence that the remaining guilty verdicts were equally flawed.

A friend told the Daily Mail that she regards the jury’s decision to clear him on multiple counts as proof the other allegations were similarly baseless.

Throughout the nearly four-week trial, Ms Gallacher had been a constant presence in the public gallery, arriving each morning hand-in-hand with Brand and meticulously noting down proceedings as six women delivered their testimony.

As the sole in-person defence witness, Ms Gallacher told jurors her husband was “caring, kind and a wonderful father to our children,” adding: “I feel very seen by him… I love him very much.”

When asked whether Brand respected her wishes when she declined sexual activity, she answered: “Yes absolutely.”

As the guilty verdict on the rape charge was read aloud, Ms Gallacher was seen hunching over in the gallery. Moments earlier, Brand had turned to her from outside the dock and declared: “Laura, I love you.”

Brand was convicted last Thursday of raping a 21-year-old fan he encountered backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo in February 2009, along with three separate sexual assaults spanning his entertainment career.

The additional convictions related to the groping of an MTV employee at a Soho bar gathering in 2004, a forcible kiss and groping of a Capital Radio worker in approximately 2004 or 2005, and the sexual assault of a Channel 4 staff member during a coerced massage in 2009.

The 51-year-old faces a potentially substantial custodial term, with rape convictions carrying a maximum life sentence and standard determinate terms of up to 19 years.