Russell Brand’s barrister refers himself to Bar Standards Board

Ian Winter KC, the barrister who defended Russell Brand, says he has referred himself to the Bar Standards Board after a reported confrontation with Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin outside Southwark Crown Court.

Winter said on Friday that he considered his professional duty required him to report the allegations so they could be scrutinised. The regulator oversees barristers in England and Wales; no decision or investigation outcome has been reported.

Urwin said on a Times and Sunday Times podcast that Winter told her, “I hope you’re pleased with yourself” after the jury returned its verdicts against Brand. She said he also swore at her. The Guardian reported a fuller account of the exchange, including Winter’s reply to Urwin: “Well, it wasn’t. You fucked it.”

Brand was convicted of rape and three counts of sexual assault after a four-week trial. He was acquitted of two further rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. He is due to be sentenced on Monday.

During the trial, Winter argued that reporting about allegations against Brand had made a fair trial impossible. The judge rejected Brand’s application to stop the case. None of the women featured in the 2023 media investigation involving Urwin were complainants in the criminal trial.