Russell Brand’s Scottish wife Laura Brand told him she loved him and would be “okay” after he was sentenced to 10-and-a half-years for rape and sexual assault.
Earlier, she had heard the judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, describe her husband as a “predator” before passing a sentence that means he will spend seven years in prison – two thirds of time served – before being released on license.
Laura Brand, an author and illustrator, continued to back her husband even after listening to the details of harrowing impact statements from the disgraced entertainer’s four victims.
Wearing sunglasses, a grey turtleneck and a dark pinstripe coat, she had arrived at Southwark Crown Court with a friend.
She sat in the public gallery as the judge summarised gruesome details of her husband’s criminal behaviour.
She made it clear, as she did throughout the trial, she would continue to stand by him.
The daughter of Scottish Ryder Cup winning golfer Bernard Gallacher from West Lothian and sister of broadcaster Kirsty Gallacher said, “Oh God” as she saw Brand enter the dock, and told him “I love you” as he was being led away.
According to Brand’s barrister, the rape and sexual assault convictions have caused “total devastation” to his wife, but she is “standing by him”.
During his submissions to the court ahead of sentencing, Ian Winter KC said: “I’m afraid words are completely inadequate to truly try to convey to your Lordship the total devastation she’s experiencing.
“Currently they are wrestling with how to exactly explain to a child who’s just turned 10 what has happened here. It brings home the consequences of this conduct to totally innocent people who have been caught up in it.”
The pair have three children.
Since 2023, the couple have run an event called Community with Laura + Russell Brand, which includes holistic therapy and a “practical life workshop”.
During the trial, she explained how she met Russell Brand at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006, having told him, “I’m Laura, Kirsty’s sister. That was a great show.”
She also described her husband as a “caring, kind and a wonderful father to our children”.
The 39-year-old also told the jury at his rape and sexual assault trial that “the way he treats me is to know me”, adding: “I feel very seen by him… I love him very much.”
Best known for her books including The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play and The Joy Journal for Grown-ups, she was 19 at the time they met and he was 31.
They split in 2007 and met again in 2015 before taking part in an Indian-themed wedding reception in August 2017, in Henley-on-Thames.
Brand, now 51, had been found guilty of raping a woman in 2009, as well as sexually assaulting female TV and radio workers between 2004 and 2009.
Laura Brand was seated just a few feet away from the shamed comedian in the glass-walled dock during the sentencing.
At times she looked at the floor as the judge spoke - occasionally glancing towards her husband in the dock.
But her shamed husband displayed no emotion as he was told his punishment, and he said to his wife, “I love you, we’ll be OK”, as he was being led to the cells.
During the trial, the couple had carried on recording their Sunday Service podcasts, detailing their thoughts on faith and the justice process.
She spoke in the videos about her “nerves” before arriving at court and compared the experience to being in the “eye of the storm”.
She also made a reference to the address of the courthouse, Battle Bridge Lane, suggesting it was apt because “you don your armour”.
Before the sentencing hearing began, Brand started to pray and told his wife: “It’ll be okay, I don’t know how, but it will.”
Brand winked and then nodded at his wife and members of his entourage while clutching a crucifix in his hands.
During the court session, the judge called Brand a “sexual predator” and noted he “committed sexual offenses against a number of women over a five-year period,” before summarising all the allegations evidence and findings against Brand.
She was filmed leaving Southwark Crown Court after her husband was jailed, “shaking a little”, breathing deeply and muttering “it’s OK, it’s OK” as she was led out of the courtroom by her friends.