Mark Rowley says he would not be surprised if many more people emerged with allegations against convicted rapist
The head of Scotland Yard has called for anyone with fresh allegations against the convicted rapist Russell Brand to come forward.
Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police commissioner, said he would not be surprised if “many more” alleged victims of Brand emerged after the former comedian turned online influencer was on Thursday convicted of rape and sexual assault.
Brand, 51, was described during his trial as a ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator. He was convicted of raping a woman at his luxury London townhouse and of sexually assaulting three women in front of his entourage at their workplaces, at a radio station and TV studio.
Brand is under investigation for two further rape allegations and the Met has submitted files to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Rowley told Times Radio on Friday: “There’s two more rape allegations that we’re looking at. We’re encouraging anybody else to come forward if there’s any other allegations.”
He later added on BBC Breakfast: “I clearly wouldn’t be surprised if many more came forward.”
The charges and ultimate conviction followed a 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and Times and Sunday Times reports that aired allegations against him.
Dorothy Byrne, a former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 who has spoken of her own experience of sexual assault, warned of a power disparity between high-profile talent and younger staff on short-term contracts, which she said often prevented victims from speaking out due to fear of professional retaliation.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Things are a lot better, particularly in large organisations. But I think that there are still young women, and, I may say, young men, at risk in smaller organisations. There is such a disparity in power between the talent, who’s seen as absolutely key to the success of the programme, and a young person who will be on a very short-term contract and will fear that if she speaks out, she may not be invited back and will be seen as a troublemaker in the industry.”
Byrne said she hoped the Brand case could be a turning point, adding: “I think there will be some men who have behaved badly who will be feeling frightened today because they’ve seen here really brave young women come forward to the police and make a complaint.”
Rowley later said some of what he heard reported from Brand’s trial was “getting very close to victim blaming”.
It was put to Rowley on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Brand’s defence lawyer, Ian Winter KC, told jurors that “none of the complainants had, in his words, resisted or screamed or even tried to leave”.
Asked if he would support the victims’ commissioner, Claire Waxman, who wants the courts and tribunals bill to include a legal duty for judges to issue directions to juries on rape myths and misconceptions in every rape trial, Rowley said: “I strongly support Claire. I think what I’ve heard reported heads towards, it’s getting very close to victim blaming, which is something we’ve thought very hard about in policing and make sure we don’t do.”
His comments echoed those of Jess Phillips, a Labour MP and former safeguarding minister, who said the trial was a “rare insight for the public into the kind of things that get said during rape trials”.
“I’ve sat through many rape trials in my career, and some of the sort of myths and stereotypes around women just misunderstanding badly behaved, boyish behaviour. It was, in this case, also the the line of defence that was tried, around ‘why aren’t there more women if this were true’?
“Turns out there are more women coming forward. But, look, it’s not an easy gig for a victim to take on very, very expensive, well-paid lawyers of celebrities during a trial.”
