Russell Brand left ‘cowering in fear’ in London’s HMP Wandsworth as inmates threaten him

Brand is said to have become a high-profile target for his fellow prisoners, who have been repeatedly taunting him by shouting: “There’s a Brand new n***e on the wing! A Brand new n***e. Brand, you c***, you ain’t so f***ing lairy now.”

A prison source told The Daily Mail: “Weekends at Wandsworth can be boring as the prison is so understaffed, meaning there is usually very little out-of-cell time for prisoners.

“There is no outside exercise in the yard. Dinner or tea is served to prisoners at 4.30pm and then prisoners are back in their cells until 8am the next morning.

“They have to get their amusement somewhere, so they’ve made Brand the object, with hundreds of prisoners shouting the chant.”

The insider revealed how Brand has been “going around like a shadow”, only emerging from his cell to collect food at mealtimes before swiftly returning.

They added: “So far it’s only been verbal abuse but that doesn’t mean that if somehow another prisoner bumps into him it won’t be just verbal as any celebrity is a high-end target.”

After spending his first night on HMP Wandsworth’s induction wing, the 51-year-old is believed to have been moved onto the prison’s Vulnerable Person’s wing.

The unit is commonly home to prisoners at high risk of harm, including paedophiles, sex offenders and police informants, with notoriously poor conditions and “inhumane” cell standards.

The prison source warned Brand could soon be “approached soon by a couple of prisoners who rule over the wing” and may be forced to “line their pockets in order to have a slightly safer and more comfortable time”.

Brand’s celebrity lifestyle has been firmly left outside the prison gates, with the actor now forced to wash his clothes in a small sink and dry them on a small heated pipe running through his cell.

“Conditions are basic. He has a small metal basin and a toilet in the cell,” the insider explained.

“The only heating is a pipe that runs the length of the building and through each cell, so prisoners use it to dry their towels, T-shirts and socks etc. There’s no regular collection of laundry and washing is a luxury as and when.”

Brand is said to have been so poorly prepared for being remanded into custody he “did not even take a bag with him to prison so he has no belongings”, the source revealed.

Upon his arrival, the convicted rapist met with the prison chaplain and prayed before holding talks with the prison’s assistant governor, who warned him to brace for “the rough with the smooth”.

The 51-year-old voiced his fears over the prospect of being holed up well before the jury reached its decision on Thursday.

In an episode of his Sunday Service podcast recorded on October 11, just one day before jury selection began, he told his wife, Laura Gallacher: “I don’t like things where it’s like you might have to go to prison.”

She responded: “Yeah, I know, but that is just the nature of what a trial is.”

At Southwark Crown Court, Brand was told he faces a “significant custodial term” ahead of sentencing tomorrow.

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