The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has said part of Russell Brand's defence came "very close to victim blaming" and has backed a call for judges to be legally required to warn juries about rape myths in every rape trial.
Sir Mark Rowley made the comments on Friday, a day after a jury at Southwark Crown Court convicted the comedian of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Brand, 51, was cleared of two further counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.
His intervention gives the country's most senior police officer's support to a proposal from Claire Waxman, the Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales, who wants a duty added to the Courts and Tribunals Bill now before Parliament. The Law Commission examined the same idea last year and recommended against it.
Rowley was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about a line in the closing speech of Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, who invited the jury to consider that none of the complainants had "resisted or screamed or even tried to leave".
"I strongly support Claire. I think what I've heard reported heads towards, it's getting very close to victim blaming, which is something we've thought very hard about in policing and make sure we don't do," the Commissioner said.
He said the evidence showed people responded to trauma in different ways. "Some people will fight. Some people will freeze."
Waxman has said the idea that victims must scream, resist or report an offence immediately is a myth "rooted in outdated and harmful assumptions about how victims are expected to behave". She is seeking a statutory duty "requiring judges to direct juries on rape myths and misconceptions", with the aim of giving consistent directions in every rape case.
Barristers are bound by their professional code to put their client's case. Winter's closing speech also told the jury that being manipulative in pursuit of consensual sex was lawful and that the complainants' accounts had been contaminated by media coverage.
Judges in England and Wales can already direct juries on common misconceptions about sexual offences, using guidance in the Crown Court Compendium, but they are not obliged to do so. The Law Commission's final report on evidence in sexual offences prosecutions, published in July 2025, recommended keeping that discretion rather than making directions mandatory, and said judges should give them wherever there was a risk of a jury relying on myths. It argued that fixing the content of directions in law could encroach on judicial independence and stop judges tailoring them to the case.
Scotland has had statutory directions on certain rape myths since 2017.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill, introduced by David Lammy, had its Commons second reading on 10 March. A Law Commission memorandum on the Bill says it tightens the evidential thresholds for categories of evidence most likely to introduce myths into trials, but does not describe a duty on judges to direct juries.
The jury heard seven charges involving six women and alleged offences between 1999 and 2009. The rape conviction concerns a 21-year-old woman Brand met at a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009. The sexual assault convictions include groping an MTV worker at a party in Soho in 2004. All six complainants have lifelong anonymity.
Mr Justice Bennathan refused Brand bail after the verdicts and remanded him in custody. He is due to be sentenced on Monday 9 November.
Rowley also told GB News the force had two further rape investigations into Brand. "We stand ready for that and we'll take whatever comes forward to us. We've already got two extra rape investigations relating to Russell Brand, but I would not be surprised if many more come forward," he said. The BBC reported that Brand has been interviewed under caution in connection with them. No charges have been brought.
Join the Discussion
Have something to say? Join the conversation!
Sign in to share your thoughts and engage with other readers.
Sign In Create AccountNo comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this article!