Court Hears Russell Brand Used MySpace to Meet Women

The comedian Russell Brand used MySpace to meet women, his trial has heard.

The 51-year-old is facing seven charges, including rape and sexual assault, involving six women between 1999 and 2009. He denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.

On the eighth day of his trial at Southwark Crown Court, jurors heard evidence from Helen Berger, one of his former personal assistants, who worked with him during the mid-2000s.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Berger recalled that Brand used the social networking site MySpace to connect with women.

She said he was often dressed in his underwear while they worked from his flat in Camden, north London. Describing his lifestyle at the time, she said he had a very active social life and was open about his relationships.

"He was very open about what his needs were," she said. "There were times at his house on a deadline... he would get antsy and joke with me, 'May I go and have sex now?'"

Ms Berger also described an occasion when she had to ensure Brand's mother and girlfriend did not enter a dressing room while he was with someone. She recalled being asked to take them to the green room.

At an earlier hearing yesterday, jurors heard an account from a woman who alleged that Brand had raped her in 2004. The court was told that she had described his behaviour before the alleged incident as though he had become a different person.

Last week, the court heard allegations that Brand had touched the woman's breasts during a conversation at a party in a Soho bar before taking her into a lavatory. Brand denies the charges.

In a statement read to jurors, a member of the woman's family recalled seeing her the day after the alleged incident. She appeared "upset, almost in shock" and was "really shaken by this incident", the witness said.

The family member told the court that she later learned more about what the woman had described. She said: "His eyes had gone completely blank, it was like he had been possessed or become a different person."

Another relative recalled the woman telling him that "Russell Brand forced himself upon her".

At the time, the complainant was working at MTV and reportedly spoke to a senior member of staff about the alleged incident.

When she later learned that Brand had been hired by the channel, she asked a colleague: "Why are you hiring him, do you know what happened to me?"

The trial continues.

GV Hale