Russell Brand Enters HMP Wandsworth to Serve 10.5-Year Sentence After Rape, Sexual Assault Convictions
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Nov 13
Russell Brand Enters HMP Wandsworth to Serve 10.5-Year Sentence After Rape, Sexual Assault Convictions
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Nov 13
Summary
HMP Wandsworth is now holding Russell Brand, 51, days after he was sentenced to 10 years and six months for one rape count and three sexual assault counts.
A source close to Brand said he was doing “remarkably well” and had been moved from isolation to a main wing, though prison staff and former inmates said he is still likely to be kept alone for safety.
Chris Atkins, a former Wandsworth inmate, called the prison “hell on earth,” saying the first month is the hardest and that Brand’s fame and sex-offence convictions could make him a target for assaults.
Staff said inmates had been shouting Brand’s name and reacting with both excitement and anger, while former prisoners said sex offenders often struggle to get work and basic approvals for calls and visits can take weeks.
Under England’s release rules for serious sexual offences, Brand could be freed after serving two-thirds of his term—about seven years—and may later be moved to a less harsh prison.