Prosecutor urges jury to believe women accusing Russell Brand

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones urged jurors at Southwark Crown Court to believe six women who accuse Russell Brand of sexual offences, arguing in her closing speech that he treated women as disposable. The allegations remain for the jury to decide, and Brand denies all seven charges. The charges relate to alleged offences against six women between 1999 and 2009. They comprise three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. Brand has pleaded not guilty. Karmy-Jones told jurors that the women were a means to an end for Brand, and cited his remarks in a 2017 interview describing women as amusements in a “playground of orgasms.” She also pointed to his discussion of a “birthright” to orgasm in a book. Those references formed part of the prosecution’s argument about his attitude and are not findings by the court. The prosecutor asked jurors to assess the complainants’ accounts and Brand’s evidence, including what she described as inconsistencies between his testimony and earlier statements. She argued that the women had come forward independently and disputed the suggestion that reporting about Brand had led them to invent or reshape their...