Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London Zuma Press/Alamy
Russell Brand trial
Russell Brand is on trial accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault
RUSSELL BRAND HAD a “huge preoccupation” with sex and spent most nights out looking for women to sleep with, his former flatmate told a court.
Andrew Dobson called Brand “very egotistical” and “erratic” as he recalled their time together as part of a theatrical troupe, then flatmates, in the late 1990s.
He told Southwark Crown Court: “He was a very vibrant character, very egotistical I would say, lively, sort of quite demanding and persuading.
“I would also say I used to find him, I think, erratic might be a slightly better term. Hard to predict.”
Asked to describe Brand’s general behaviour on social occasions, he said: “I think sex was a huge preoccupation for him.
“I do recall clearly nights where the pursuit of ultimately getting somebody into bed would have been a preoccupation.”
Brand is on trial accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault, with allegations from six women dating from 1999 to 2009.
In 1999, the comedian is accused of raping a woman he had met after performing in a satirical cabaret show at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.
Dobson, who composed the music for the show, said their final show ended calamitously with a small fire on stage, which “almost summed up the week a bit” after a series of sparsely populated audiences.
He remembers the troupe returning to their accommodation without Brand, who reappeared the following morning.
“I recall Russell coming in and there suddenly being an urgency to leave”, he said, describing the “hurried” manner that they left the accommodation.
I only remember the atmosphere and almost a panicked urgency and it feeling tense and confusing. I didn’t really understand why.
On Thursday, the woman who has accused Brand of rape at the conference that year gave evidence that he had turned “monster-like” and forced her down on to a bed, and afterwards acted as if nothing had happened.
She said they had a friendly chat at the show, when she mistakenly believed he was gay, and she invited him to her hotel room to continue their conversation.
Statements from two friends of the woman were also read to the court on Friday by prosecutor Suki Dhadda, detailing when they were told about the allegation of rape.
One, a journalist, said she got a phone call “out of the blue” from the woman in 2023 after Brand had been publicly accused of sexual misconduct in a TV documentary and newspaper articles.
The journalist said in her statement: “She told me she went to the bathroom, and when she returned Russell Brand was in his underwear.
“She was completely shocked and told me he had made me take photographs of him.”
She added: “It was then I was told by her she was raped by Russell Brand.
“She said she was utterly confused as she thought he was gay and being friendly.”
The second friend said she learned about the allegation in a WhatsApp message in December 2024, when the woman said of Brand: “Everyone seems to think he’s amazing.”
Brand denies all the charges he faces, and is set to argue that consensual sexual encounters have been “reimagined” in recent years.
As he arrived at court on Friday morning with his wife Laura Gallacher, Brand told waiting journalists: “Obviously it’s an extraordinary and stressful situation but it is also an exploration of truth and justice and as I’ve said before I pray for everybody involved.
“It’s in a way very, very sad but hopefully it can bring about some conclusions that are beneficial.”
He faces allegations that he raped a woman in a Soho bar toilet, sexually assaulted women he came across in radio and TV studios, and allegedly raped a woman after they met at one of his stand-up shows.
The trial continues.