Russell Brand appears in UK court charged with further sexual offences | UK news

Russell Brand has been charged with two sexual offenses, including rape, in a UK court via video link from the US.

The 50-year-old comedian was accused of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault against two women in December. The two alleged crimes occurred in 2009.

Brand had previously denied two charges of rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault relating to alleged offenses involving four women between 1999 and 2005.

During a brief hearing on the new charges on Tuesday afternoon, Brand appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court via video link from Florida.

Brand, wearing a partially unbuttoned light blue denim shirt, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: “Mr Brand, one of the charges you face is what we call an actionable charge, which means it can only be tried in the crown court.”

Brand was granted bail to appear at Southwark crown court in London on February 17 for a pre-trial preparation hearing. A trial on the five original charges is scheduled to begin later this year.

Brand was accused following an investigation by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times in which several women made allegations against him. The night before it was released, Brand denied the allegations in a video posted online, stating that all of their relationships were consensual, and accused the media of a “coordinated attack”.

The comedian presented a show on BBC Radio 2 between 2006 and 2008, and in the 2000s presented Big Brother spin-off show Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

He was married to US pop singer Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012. He is currently married to TV presenter Kirsty’s sister Laura Gallacher and the couple have two children, Mabel and Peggy.