Russell Brand was convicted of rape and three sexual assaults following formal allegations brought by multiple women, according to reporting by The Guardian.
The 2014 Massage Therapist Injunction
In June 2014, a massage therapist named Szilvia Berki—also referred to as Sylvie Berki in records analyzed by Tax Policy Associates—was hired by Jemima Goldsmith to give Brand a massage at Kiddington Hall, a £15 million mansion near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, the Daily Mail reported.
Berki accused Brand of assault, alleging she was treated like a prostitute, according to The Guardian. Police dismissed the allegation and closed the investigation without bringing charges.
Following the police decision, Berki attempted to reach newspapers, her Member of Parliament, and the prime minister reported. In response, Brand and Goldsmith jointly obtained a High Court anti-harassment injunction against Berki, according to Tax Policy Associates. The order barred Berki from discussing the events with anyone outside a small group of medical professionals, effectively preventing her from speaking to journalists or answering police inquiries, Tax Policy Associates reported.
Berki was unrepresented in court and was ordered to pay the couple’s £50,000 legal costs, with threats of bankruptcy proceedings if she failed to pay, according to the Daily Mail. Tax Policy Associates noted that Berki subsequently mounted unsuccessful legal challenges in 2017 and this year to vary the terms of the injunction.
In 2014 Russell Brand and his then partner Jemima Khan were granted an injunction against masseuse Szilvia Berki. Berki claimed Brand had assaulted her, but when she contacted police she was told there was no case to answer. Instead an injunction was granted against Berki
Jemima Goldsmith Alleges Abuse
Jemima Goldsmith accused Brand of violence, coercive control, and abuse on X, the Daily Mail reported. She described a separate violent incident in 2014 that required her to call the police to have Brand removed from her home.
Goldsmith stated that she chose not to press charges at the time out of concern for the impact of intense press attention on her teenage children, according to the Daily Mail.
In her November statement, Goldsmith added that she had told Berki she would agree to vary the injunction to allow her to contact the police again, and that she had instructed her lawyer to engage on Berki’s other requests, The Guardian reported. However, Goldsmith also alleged that Berki had engaged in a campaign of threatening and antisemitic online abuse directed at her, according to the Daily Mail.
Legal Hurdles for Survivors
Data highlights substantial hurdles for complainants within the criminal justice system. Approximately 40% of sexual assault victims withdraw from active police investigations before a charging decision is reached, driven by a lack of faith in the process and the exhaustion of having their credibility questioned, according to The Guardian.
Complainant six, an individual who worked with Brand on a Channel 4 project, gave evidence solely to support the testimony of other witnesses rather than pursuing her own charges, The Guardian reported.
Common Inquiries Regarding the Case
What terms did the 2014 injunction enforce?
The High Court harassment injunction prohibited Szilvia Berki from disclosing any information about her visit to Kiddington Hall or making criminal allegations against Brand and Goldsmith to journalists, friends, family, or police officers, according to Tax Policy Associates and the Daily Mail.
Did Jemima Goldsmith report her own 2014 incident to the police?
Goldsmith called the police to have Brand removed from her home during a violent incident in 2014, but she ultimately chose not to press formal charges at the time due to concerns over press attention affecting her children, the Daily Mail reported.
ENGLAND Time to reassess snob injunction The case of the way Jemima Khan and Russell Brand used their wealth and the law against complainer Szilvia Berki ought to be re-opened, and scrutinised in depth. Then again, what are the chances of that? Kahn has family connections to… pic.twitter.com/uE5V7yGc0a
How have legal representatives responded to the injunction recently?
Goldsmith told Berki she would agree to vary the terms of the injunction so that Berki could speak with police officers if desired, and instructed her lawyer to engage on Berki’s other requests, according to statements reported by The Guardian.
What convictions did Russell Brand face?
Brand was convicted of rape and three sexual assaults following criminal proceedings, as reported by The Guardian and Tax Policy Associates.
More on Szilvia Berki
@Jemima_Khan helped Brand silence Berki. She can do right by her and pay for the filling and application. Berki deserves the freedom to tell her story.
#JeremyVine A woman called Szilvia Berki made allegations against Russell Brand in 2013, and she's still silenced by the courts, to this day#EndTheInjunctionhttps://t.co/v99K34zbps
Russell Brand was convicted today of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Years earlier, in 2014, masseuse Sylvie Berki alleged that he assaulted her after she was hired to give a massage at Jemima Goldsmith’s home. Police found no case to answer. Brand and…