Former flatmate recalls hurried Bournemouth departure at Brand trial

Andrew Dobson, a former flatmate of Russell Brand, told jurors on Friday that Brand returned to the group’s accommodation in Bournemouth one morning in 1999 and they left in a rush. It was the morning after a woman alleges Brand raped her in a hotel room. Brand denies the allegation. [1]

Brand is on trial at Southwark Crown Court on three rape charges, three sexual assault charges and one indecent assault charge, relating to six women and alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009. He has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges and says any sexual contact, if it happened, would have been consensual. [1] [3]

Dobson, who had worked on music for a show Brand performed during the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, described Brand at the time as lively, persuasive and erratic. He also said “sex was a huge preoccupation for him”. Dobson did not say he witnessed the alleged rape. [1]

He recalled a sudden urgency when Brand returned to the accommodation, but said he could not remember anything specific being said. Sky News reported that Dobson did not know why Brand wanted to leave so quickly. [1] [2]

Another former flatmate, Mark Pinheiro, told the court earlier in the week that Brand had said he needed to return to London for a “really big audition”. Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC, challenged the reliability of Pinheiro’s account. Questioning Dobson on Friday, Winter raised Dobson’s previous description of Brand as someone women would swoon over. Dobson agreed that Brand was “certainly charismatic”. The trial continues. [1] [3]