Russell Brand’s barrister reports himself to watchdog over post-rape trial verdict tirade

Russell Brand’s barrister has referred himself to the standards watchdog after a verbal altercation with a journalist outside court after the verdict.

Brand spent the night behind bars on Thursday after being found guilty of raping a fan and sexually assaulting three women at the height his showbiz career.

In fraught scenes outside the courtroom, Ian Winter KC, reportedly launched into a tirade against a Sunday Times journalist who had worked on a joint 2023 investigation with Channel 4 Dispatches and The Times accusing the comedian of sexual misconduct.

“I hope you are pleased with yourself”, he told Rosamund Urwin, the paper’s chief news correspondent. When she was heard replying: “I’m pleased justice has been done”, Mr Winter retorted: “Well, it wasn’t. You f***ed it.” He then added: “Congratulations.”

During the trial, Mr Winter had argued The Sunday Times, The Times and Dispatches reporting had “poisoned the well of justice” against his client and made an unsuccessful bid to have the trial thrown out.

In a statement issued on Friday, Mr Winter said: “Having seen the ways matters have been characterised in today’s press I consider my professional duty requires me to self-report those allegations to the Bar Standards Board, so the matter can be subject to proper scrutiny. I have made such a report.”

The Bar Standards Board previously declined to comment on whether it had received complaints against Mr Winter.

He has faced backlash from prominent journalists and legal commentators over his remarks, who called the KC’s actions “reprehensible”.

In an interview on Times Radio following the exchange, Ben Taylor, editor of The Sunday Times, defended Ms Urwin, his newspaper’s chief news correspondent.

He said: “I found what Mr Winter did quite extraordinary. I have never seen or heard of a barrister behaving in this way.

“There’s a really serious point here, which is that it was not Ros who found Russell Brand guilty at Southwark Crown Court.

“It was a jury of eight men and four women who have sat through this case.

“They’ve listened to the evidence, they’ve listened to the defence, and they have gone away and they’ve come back with some very considered verdicts. By impugning Ros’ integrity, what Mr Winter is doing, and he should really be called to account for this, he’s impugning the integrity of the entire case.

“He’s impugning the integrity of a jury, a system that we support massively at The Sunday Times, and we have actually campaigned to protect, who have sat there solemnly and done their duty, and the judge who oversaw the case and everybody else involved. I think what he did was reprehensible.”

Mr Winter KC is due to attend court on Monday to represent Brand as he is sentenced.