Laura Gallacher arrives at court as Russell Brand awaits rape sentence

Gallacher, 38, entered the London court building shortly after 9am on Monday, supported by another woman. She turned and gave a thumbs up to pro-Brand supporters before going through the main entrance. Inside, she sobbed as the verdicts were delivered.

Brand, 51, spent the weekend in Wandsworth Prison. His barrister, Ian Winter KC, lost a bid to have the convicted rapist granted bail as an 'act of humanity' so he could say goodbye to his children. Brand denied all seven charges: three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.

Gallacher gave evidence earlier in the trial, describing her husband as 'caring' and 'kind'. Jurors were told the pair began dating in 2007 and split that summer, with Gallacher telling the court she was 'very aware' of his promiscuity. The couple got back together in 2015, married in 2017 and now share three children.

She is an author and illustrator who grew up on the Wentworth estate in Surrey, studied art and moved into restaurant and nightclub management. Her father is Bernard Gallacher, the retired Scottish golfer who captained Europe's Ryder Cup team three times, in 1991, 1993 and 1995. Her books include The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play and The Joy Journal For Grown-ups.

The pair reconnected eight years after their first split, when she was newly single and Brand was fresh off his 14-month marriage to Katy Perry. Gallacher told Grazia her ex had moved out that very day and a friend dragged her to an east London canal, where 'Russell was standing there, like he'd organised it.' On the Made by Mammas podcast in 2020 she said he seemed 'so different', and that they both knew it would be serious this time.

They wed in August 2017 at a church near their Henley-on-Thames home, with daughter Mabel, then nine months old, in attendance. Mabel was born in 2016, Peggy in 2018 and a son in 2023. The family relocated to Florida in 2024, where Brand has reinvented himself as a right-wing Christian and wellness creator; Gallacher, also a Christian, has appeared in some of his videos but says she prefers to stay out of the public eye, and her social media accounts have been deactivated.