A jury has begun deliberating in the rape and sexual assault trial of British comedian and media personality Russell Brand, 51, at Southwark Crown Court in London.

Brand faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The jury of eight men and four women was directed by judge Mr Justice Bennathan on Tuesday that he can only accept a unanimous verdict.

The charges relate to allegations made by six women spanning a decade between 1999 and 2009.

Prosecutors described Brand as someone who saw women as a "disposable commodity" who "didn't matter to him" and were simply a "means to an end." Barrister Riel Karmy-Jones KC, for the prosecution, told the jury that the women said his personality changed "from charming to frightening to nasty" during the alleged attacks. She said the women, who do not know each other, had been "haunted for years" by their experiences.

Giving evidence, Brand admitted using his fame to "facilitate sexual access," which he said was wrong, but denied ever doing anything criminal. He also told the court he had been "obsessed" with sex in the past, but insisted all encounters were consensual.

His barrister told jurors that Brand "had an immense amount of sex," but that "none of it was unlawful." The defence also noted that none of the women reported the alleged incidents to police at the time, and argued that a 2023 television and newspaper investigation had "poisoned the well of justice" by prompting women to come forward afterwards.

One woman accuses Brand of raping her after they met at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999. She claimed he turned from "camp, friendly and effeminate" to "monster-like" before the alleged assault. When asked in court whether there was any truth in the allegation, Brand replied: "No."

A second woman claims Brand grabbed her breasts at a London bar in 2004 before dragging her into a toilet, where he allegedly orally raped her. Brand said he remembered going into the toilet with the woman but denied dragging or forcing her there, or forcing her to perform oral sex.

A third woman says she had a consensual sexual encounter with Brand in his dressing room at the Hammersmith Apollo theatre in London in 2009, but accuses him of later raping her after inviting her to his home in Hampstead. She said she had agreed to vaginal sex but did not consent to anal sex. After he texted her six months later, she told him he had "treated me like an animal." Brand denied committing anal rape and said the encounter was consensual.

Further allegations come from a woman who says she was pinned against a wall and groped, another who claims he put his head into her lap while she was forced to give him a massage, and a complainant who says he attempted to drag her into a toilet. Brand denies all of these charges.

Brand's wife, Laura, gave evidence in his defence, describing him as "caring, kind and a wonderful father to our children."

Allegations of sexual misconduct against Brand were first made public in a Channel 4 documentary and a Times and Sunday Times investigation in 2023. He denied those allegations, which related to different women than those involved in the current criminal trial.

Brand rose to prominence as a stand-up comedian and became widely known as the host of television programmes including Big Brother's Big Mouth, and through radio work on stations including BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music. He later pursued a Hollywood career, appearing in films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. He was married to pop star Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012. In recent years he has reinvented himself as an online social, political and religious commentator.