Family of Russell Brand's wife Laura fear he 'brainwashed' her — and are desperate for her to move on with someone else: report

Russell Brand was sentenced on Monday, November 9, 2026, to 10 years and six months in prison after being convicted on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, Page Six reported. Entertainment Weekly said he received nine years for rape, to be served consecutively with nine months, 18 months, and eight months for the three sexual assault convictions. Brand, 51, was found guilty on November 5 after a trial that started in October 2026. He was accused of assaulting six women between 1999 and 2009 and pleaded not guilty to all charges, which included three counts of rape and sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. He was found not guilty of two other rape charges and a count of attempted indecent assault.

Laura Gallacher, 39, Brand's wife of nine years, stood by him throughout the trial and was the sole character witness. She testified that Brand is "caring, he is kind, he is a wonderful father to our children" and that she loves him "very much," Yahoo reported, citing Grazia Daily. As he was taken from the courtroom, she told him, "I love you, I'll be OK," according to Sky News as cited by Entertainment Weekly and Page Six.

Sources close to Gallacher's family told the Daily Mail that she believes Brand is innocent and that he has extreme influence over her. "Russell gets what Russell wants. He has that charm and swagger, and Laura is besotted with him," one source said. "She goes along with what he wants, it's like he has totally brainwashed her." The family hopes that with Brand behind bars, Gallacher might "start her life with someone far, far nicer than Russell," the source added. A family friend said Gallacher has been in shock since the verdict and sees the split verdict as proof of his innocence, noting he was cleared on three of the seven counts.

Brand and Gallacher met at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006 when she was 19 and he was 31. They dated briefly, parted ways, and reconnected around 2015. They married in August 2017 in Oxfordshire and have three children: daughters Mabel, 9, Peggy, 7, and a son, 3, whose name has not been released. Gallacher is the daughter of Scottish golfer Bernard Gallacher and Lesley Gallacher, and the younger sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher. She is a children's book author whose book "The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play" became a Sunday Times bestseller.

In sentencing remarks obtained by Page Six, the judge said there was no sound evidential basis to conclude Brand poses a future risk, citing in part the evidence of his wife and the long passage of time since the offences.