RUSSELL BRAND SHOWED “contempt” for his sexual partners and had “a casual and arrogant disregard for a woman’s right to say no”.

That’s according to Mr Justice Bennathan, who today sentenced the disgraced comedian to 10.5 years in prison for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.

He said that Brand had “staggering arrogance” and acted “how you liked and when you liked, unhindered by the rules by which decent people live”.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police said Brand (51) is a “dangerous offender” who has been brought to justice thanks to the “courage” of his victims.

A four-week trial heard how Brand preyed on women that he encountered on his way to becoming one of Britain’s best-known comedians, a lauded TV and radio host, and a Hollywood actor who was briefly married to singer Katy Perry.

Opening his sentencing statement today, Mr Justice Bennathan told the newly-convicted sex offender: “About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, you were becoming famous. You were clever and, in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic. You had also become a sexual predator.”

He said Brand’s celebrity status protected him until 2023, when journalists from The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches first exposed a litany of sexual misconduct. The reporting prompted a number of women to make complaints to police.

Brand violently raped a 21-year-old woman at his home in 2009.

Before the sentence was handed down at Southwark Crown Court, survivors delivered impact statements behind a curtain to protect their anonymity.

There were two common threads in the victim impact statements: the women felt less confident about speaking up because of Brand’s status, and his omnipresence in the media in the years following their assaults caused them further distress.

The woman he raped told the court today that for a long time she didn’t feel confident enough to speak out about someone so “powerful, rich and influential”.

I felt that if I reported him, I would not be believed.

The woman went on to say that the investigation and criminal justice process have been “extremely difficult”, and she often felt like she was the one “being scrutinised and interrogated”.

“Every update regarding the case brought back memories of the incident and felt like reopening old wounds,” she said.

“The thought of personal details being discussed publicly has caused me significant distress.”

The judge acknowledged the lasting impact the rape had on her.

“She still finds it affects her ability to form new friendships and to know when she can trust people,” he said.

“From her evidence at trial I also know she developed an alcohol problem, partly as a result of your attack on her.”

In the case of a newsreader that Brand sexually assaulted in a corridor at Capital Radio in 2005, the judge referenced Brand’s “entourage” who did not intervene.

“There was the added humiliation of you assaulting her in front of an audience and the laughter afterwards, and the violence used to pin her to the wall was beyond the force that any sexual assault will involve,” the judge said.

“No doubt your companions thought it was outrageous laddish behaviour that only you could get away with.

It was outrageous and possibly laddish, but also a criminal sexual offence, and as it turns out you haven’t got away with it.

The incident impacted the woman’s work but she “tried for so long to be strong and carry on – business as usual”, she wrote in an impact statement read out by a lawyer.

“Over the years, hearing his voice on television, on social media or seeing his image made me jump,” she said.

The woman went on to say that she came close to withdrawing her allegation because she did not think she “was strong enough emotionally” to proceed.

She concluded her statement by saying:

Russell Brand is a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behaviour has impacted my life.

Brand sexually assaulted a Channel 4 worker during a forced massage in 2009.

The woman said in court today that she lost trust in people after the experience, and her workplace no longer felt safe.

She said the process of reporting the incident “felt like a marathon I had not trained for”.

“I was so worried about whether I would be supported and heard, because I wasn’t when I first spoke up initially after the assault first happened,” she said.

While she is now believed, she remains anxious that “there will be repercussions for telling the truth”.

Jurors also found Brand guilty of groping another MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to orally rape her in a toilet.

Mr Justice Bennathan said today that Brand felt “entitled” to “grab” the woman’s breasts.

“In your trial you said you had never touched a woman sexually without her consent, and that included this woman. In the light of the jury’s verdicts, that was one of a series of lies you told,” the judge said.

The judge paid tribute to the “determination and bravery” of the victims.

“All those women had to face being confronted and being told they had lied, or twisted the truth and/or they had agreed to your sexual demands. That was all done because of you, on your instructions,” he told Brand.

Brand will serve two-thirds of the total 10-and-a-half-year sentence, and will then be released on licence. 

The judge said factors in mitigation for Brand included his lack of previous convictions, that “17 years had passed” since his final offence, and that he went on to help those “wrestling with addictions”.