Inside Europe’s largest sex offenders’ prison where rapist Russell Brand now lives

In a picturesque village in Cambridgeshire sits a building that is incongruous against the backdrop of the peaceful English countryside.

Inside that building, HMP Littlehey, is convicted rapist Russell Brand, who is settling into the reality of life in a small cell he could call home for years to come.

The former Hollywood actor and comedian is now among 1,200 men who live at the category C male sex offenders’ prison in Perry, Huntingdon, where convicts have access to a sports pitch, gymnasium, and adult learning centre.

Brand, who was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for raping a fan and sexually assaulting three other women, was moved to the prison on Friday after spending just over a week in the higher-security HMP Wandsworth.

At Europe's largest sex offenders prison, Brand now has access to a wide range of extracurricular activities, including yoga, choir, indoor bowls, and an inter-wing football league.

His move was first reported by The Sun, which said concerns for Brand’s safety and him being deemed a low escape risk could have prompted his transfer. The prison is for men who cannot be trusted in an open prison but are judged unlikely to try to abscond.

Some of the cells are shared, but according to the newspaper, Brand’s new confines consist of a single-person cell on the prison’s E Wing. It said on Saturday that Brand had not yet made contact with any of the other prisoners.

A Category C jail is a training and resettlement prison that provides inmates with the opportunity to develop their own skills so they can find work and resettle back into the community.

“Littlehey is committed to providing a safe and educational environment where men can learn new skills to help them on release,” the Ministry of Justice says.

It offers specific behaviour programmes for men convicted of a sex offence and has a “wide range of learning opportunities” to help prisoners find employment.

Brand will have access to educational classes from basic skills to degree level, as well as practical training courses in carpentry, joinery, motor mechanics, hospitality and ICT.

When Brand first arrived at the prison, he would have been allowed to contact a family member by phone and speak to a worker who would check how he was feeling.

He will now be given a week-long induction and, like all prisoners there, meet professionals who can help with any health and wellbeing or substance misuse issues.

The born again Christian, who was often seen clutching his bible as he arrived in court, is allowed no more than six books at a time.

He has a phone in his cell and is allowed to call his wife, Laura, and anyone else on his approved list of friends and family.

Brand can also exchange video messages through the prison’s service and arrange a video call.

Littlehey holds at least 12 family or children visits events a year, and Brand must submit an application if he wants to attend.

Former celebrities at the prison include former football coach and serial paedophile Barry Bennell, who died at Littlehey in 2023 while serving a 34-year sentence for child sex offences.

Disgraced celebrity publicist Max Clifford also spent eight years in the Cambridgeshire prison before collapsing and later dying in hospital.

A Criminal Justice Inspectorate report in December 2023 gave the jail top marks for prisoners feeling safe, a 3 out of 4 for prisoners being well looked after by staff, and a 2 out of 4 for prisoners needing more to do.

In a questionnaire, 24 per cent of prisoners said they had issues contacting their family, 37 per cent said they felt depressed, and 6 per cent said they felt suicidal.

Brand is now facing a string of fresh sexual assault and rape allegations, including one made by a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

Under the sentence he received on Monday, he is expected to serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before being released on licence.