Woman says encounter with Russell Brand became non-consensual

A woman testifying at Southwark Crown Court said a 2009 sexual encounter with Russell Brand began consensually but became non-consensual when he removed a condom and initiated anal sex. Brand denies the charges against him, and the allegation has not been adjudicated in the reports of the trial proceedings. The woman said she repeatedly asked Brand to stop and was in pain. Her account was presented in recorded police interviews played to the jury and in testimony described in court reporting. She said she had agreed to have sex with Brand at his Hampstead home, but had not agreed to anal sex. Brand’s barrister challenged her account, putting to her that the encounter was consensual; she rejected that suggestion. The woman said she met Brand after attending a comedy performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009. She told the court she had willingly taken part in a threesome backstage with Brand and another woman. A few days later, she went to his home expecting sex, but said the subsequent encounter crossed the limits of her consent. In a recorded interview, she described feeling degraded and said she carried guilt and shame after the alleged assault. She told police that...