Russell Brand’s lawyer reports himself after altercation with journalist

Brand, 51, was found guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009, as well as sexually assaulting three women in separate incidents between 2004 and 2009.

The jury delivered their verdict at Southwark Crown Court in London on Thursday.

Brand was cleared of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault and has been remanded in custody until sentencing on Monday.

Russell Brand (Image: Lucy North/PA Wire)

As Brand was taken down to the cells, his barrister Ian Winter KC confronted Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin, who worked on the 2023 Dispatches investigation which contained allegations against the comedian.

He told her: "I hope you are pleased with yourself."

Urwin was heard replying: "I'm pleased justice has been done."

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Winter responded: "Well, it wasn't. You fucked it. Congratulations."

Following the interaction, Winter has now released a statement saying he has reported himself to the Bar Standards Board.

He said: "Having seen the ways matters have been characterised in today's press, I consider my professional duty requires me to self-report those allegations to the Bar Standards Board, so the matter can be subject to proper scrutiny. I have made such a report."

The Bar Standards Board is the regulator for barristers in England and Wales.

Following the trial, it can be revealed that Brand tried to smear journalists as "criminals" and claimed women accusing him of abuse were "fictional" in a bid to avoid standing trial.

Russell Brand arriving at Southwark Crown Court, London. (Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA)

During the trial, Winter had argued that reporting of allegations against Brand by Urwin and others had “poisoned the well”, and rendered it impossible for him to have a fair trial.

In an interview on Times Radio following the altercation, Ben Taylor, editor of The Sunday Times, defended Urwin, his newspaper’s chief news correspondent.

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He said: “I found what Mr Winter did quite extraordinary.

“I have never seen or heard of a barrister behaving in this way.

“There’s a really serious point here, which is that it was not Ros who found Russell Brand guilty at Southwark Crown Court.

“It was a jury of eight men and four women who have sat through this case.

“They’ve listened to the evidence, they’ve listened to the defence, and they have gone away and they’ve come back with some very considered verdicts.

“By impugning Ros’ integrity, what Mr Winter is doing, and he should really be called to account for this, he’s impugning the integrity of the entire case.

“He’s impugning the integrity of a jury, a system that we support massively at The Sunday Times, and we have actually campaigned to protect, who have sat there solemnly and done their duty, and the judge who oversaw the case and everybody else involved. I think what he did was reprehensible.”