British comedian and TV star Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months on 9 November after being convicted for rape and sexual assaults. Photograph: Brook Mitchell\/AFP\/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenBritish comedian and TV star Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months on 9 November after being convicted for rape and sexual assaults. Photograph: Brook Mitchell\/AFP\/Getty ImagesUK government to consider changing age of consent after allegations against Russell BrandDeputy prime minister says change would be a massive step but \u2018deserves proper consideration and scrutiny\u2019 The government has said it will consider calls to change the age of consent after a woman waived her right to anonymity to publicly claim she was raped by Russell Brand as a 16-year-old schoolgirl.Mia Latter, now 37, alleged she had been orally raped by the jailed comedian when she was a teenager and he was 30 years old.In an interview with the Sunday Times, she called for the introduction of a staggered age of consent \u2013 which would make relationships between adults and teenagers aged 16 and 17 illegal.Louise Haigh, the de facto deputy prime minister, told the newspaper that Latter\u2019s \u201cheart-breaking story\u201d meant a law change deserved consideration.She said: \u201cWe need to listen to Mia and other victims like her who have been through these experiences because it\u2019s really important that as lawmakers their experience is at the heart of what we consider.\u201cIt clearly would be a massive step to change the age of consent, but it deserves proper consideration and scrutiny. I can absolutely understand why she is calling for it.\u201dUnder UK law, adults of any age are legally able to have sex with 16 and 17-year-olds.Latter said: \u201cIt\u2019s shocking to me time and time again that whenever the news comes up again about him, it\u2019s always in the comments about the relationship with a 16-year-old.\u201cThat\u2019s not the most heinous bit.<\/p>\n
But why is that the thing that everybody collectively gets stuck on? I think we all sort of agree that \u2026 adults shouldn\u2019t be allowed to have sexual relationships with children, with somebody under the age of 18. That really doesn\u2019t seem like a gigantic leap to take.\u201dLatter was referred to under the pseudonym of Alice in previous reporting by the Sunday Times, the Times, and Channel 4\u2019s Dispatches documentary.She was 16 when she first met Brand in Leicester Square, central London, while she was on her way home from a shopping trip.He took her number and later messaged her, asking if she wanted to go for dinner, she said.She told the newspaper that Brand \u2013 who was working at MTV at the time \u2013 still asked her to meet after she had confessed her age to him.Latter alleges Brand orally raped her towards the end of their three-month relationship.Brand denied all of the allegations made against him by Latter when they were first reported in 2023 by the Times.She spoke to the police after the documentary, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to include her case in Brand\u2019s trial at Southwark Crown Court.He was convicted of attacks against four of the six women who gave evidence against him, and is now serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison term for one count of rape and three sexual assaults.Earlier this week, it was announced that a series of \u201cserious\u201d sex offence allegations against comedian David Walliams are being probed by the Metropolitan police after an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News.One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams when she was 15 as \u201csexual assault\u201d.Walliams denies any wrongdoing.Haigh went on to say that, in light of news that one of Walliams\u2019s accusers was asked to sign a non disclosure agreement (NDA), the government should also look at banning them in cases of alleged sexual assault and harassment. She said: \u201cWhen we consider the allegations against David Walliams, teenagers who were fans wouldn\u2019t come under the current consultation.\u201cI do think there is a very strong case to look at banning NDAs in all circumstances where they relate to harassment or discrimination, to make sure that no victim, regardless of where it happened or what their relationship was with the perpetrator, should ever be silenced.\u201dIt is believed MPs outside Labour may support a bill to change the age of consent laws, with Jess Brown-Fuller, the Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson, coming out in favour of reviewing them.Commending Latter for the \u201cextraordinary bravery\u201d it took to waive her anonymity, Brown-Fuller said: \u201cI think we must go further to increase protections for young women and girls, and looking at a staggered age of consent is an important step.\u201cWe already have rules that recognise power imbalances in professions: between teachers and students, or barristers and junior colleagues.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time for the government to recognise the implicit power imbalance held by older men over teenage girls.\u201dLatter\u2019s decision to come forward was also praised by Bridget Phillipson, the minister for women and equalities, who said she \u201cand thousands of others across the country will be in awe of her courage and determination\u201d. She added that it is \u201cup to all of us to send a message to women and girls who experience sexual violence: the shame is not yours. Women like Mia are leading the charge, but we can and must do more to make this a moment of change.\u201dLatter\u2019s allegation was reported to the Met police, who said the investigation into the alleged rape remains ongoing.A Met Police spokesperson said: \u201cOfficers launched an investigation in January 2026 after receiving an allegation of rape.\u201cDetectives sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service to determine how best to proceed, and officers were advised that further information was needed before a charging decision could be made.\u201cThis investigation remains ongoing. We understand the delay has been distressing for this victim-survivor.<\/p>\n
However, our focus has been on putting forward the best possible evidence.\u201dThe CPS said: \u201cThe Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work closely with investigators to provide advice and make sure cases progress as quickly as possible.\u201dExplore more on these topicsLawViolence against women and girlsRussell BrandLouise HaighnewsShareReuse this content<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British comedian and TV star Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months on 9 November after being convicted for rape and sexual assaults. Photograph: Brook Mitchell\/AFP\/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenBritish comedian and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.tcjhomeaccents.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}