Russell Brand's ex Jemima Goldsmith accuses him of 'violence and abuse'

Jemima Goldsmith, a former partner of Russell Brand, has accused him of committing "violence, coercive control and abuse" against her.

Brand, 51, was sentenced in the United Kingdom on Monday, local time, to 10 years and six months in jail for the rape and sexual assault of four women between 2004 and 2009.

He was also acquitted of two other counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

In a statement posted online hours after Brand's sentencing, Ms Goldsmith said she felt she needed to share her own experience with the convicted rapist.

"Firstly, and most importantly, I am and have always been strongly and unequivocally on the side of all of Brand's victims," she said. 

"I have had my own personal experience of his violence, coercive control and abuse.

"I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident.

"I chose not to press charges at the time and not to go public with this, as I was worried about the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children.

"I have neither seen nor spoken to Brand since that period in 2014.

"Whilst my pain in relation to this, pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact.

"Over several years, I assisted the journalists who finally exposed him; Ros Urwin, Louisa Compton and Dorothy Byrne.

"I also undertook to testify in court to his abusiveness, if the newspaper that published the victims' accounts were ever to be sued.

"I am glad and relieved that Russell Brand has finally faced justice."

Ms Goldsmith, who was once married to former Pakistani cricketer and prime minister Imran Khan, dated Brand between 2013 and 2014.

He then married Laura Brand (née Gallacher), his current wife, in 2017.

Ms Brand testified during her husband's four-week trial, and said his promiscuity left her "heartbroken" years before their marriage.

The pair met in Edinburgh in August 2006, when Ms Brand was 19 years old.

She told the jury she "felt entirely cared for and looked after by Russell" during their sex life, and described him as "caring, he's kind, he's a wonderful father".

"I was aware that he liked women and I was aware towards the latter part of the year that he was engaging with other women," she told the court.

"It was clear it was difficult for him to be monogamous."

Brand's rape conviction relates to a fan who was 21 years old when he met her following one of his London shows, and was later raped at his home in 2009.

His sexual assault convictions relate to his abuse of a woman in a bar in 2004, another woman at a radio station and a third woman he worked with in 2009.

In sentencing, Judge Joel Bennathan described Brand as a serial predator.

"The whole episode reeks of casual disrespect and your belief that fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked, unhindered by the rules by which decent people live," he said.

"Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no."

'He was a vile predator'

In addition to Ms Brand and Ms Goldsmith, the comedian dated and interacted with a string of other high-profile women through the early 2000s.

In 2006, Australian pop star Dannii Minogue told the UK's Mirror Brand had acted like a "vile predator" toward her, and once followed her down a corridor.

"He is completely crazy and a bit of a vile predator. I certainly don't think he has cured his sex addiction, that's for sure. He wouldn't take no for an answer," she said.

"He always goes that step too far. Never quite far enough to slap his face, but usually too far."

Brand's relationships also included supermodel Kate Moss and Spice Girl Geri Horner (née Halliwell), but his most famous partner was singer Katy Perry between 2009 and 2010.

Perry and Brand first met in 2008 before marrying in 2010. They filed for divorce in 2011, citing irreconcilable differences.

She told the Los Angeles Times in 2013 that Brand told her he wanted a divorce via text message on New Year's Eve in 2011.

"At first when I met him, he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they're like, I can't handle the equalness," she said.

"He didn't like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.

"I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can't necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day.

"I let go and I was like: This isn't because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that."

Perry has not commented on the allegations made against Brand or his conviction.

In court, the jury also heard from two former partners who spoke of Brand's character.

A dance teacher who dated him for three years from 1996 described him as "gentle, warm, kind and adventurous" with a "bad boy reputation".

She said their relationship ended because she felt she could no longer trust him to remain faithful.

Another woman who met Brand in London in 1999 said he was "undoubtedly promiscuous" but they never engaged in sexual activity without consent.

Following Brand's sentencing, Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said the women who shared their experiences had done so with "immense bravery, dignity and resilience".

"Today's result shows that fame, status and the passage of time do not change the fundamental issue of consent,"