Lifestyle · Entertainment

Rapist Russell Brand Secretly Moved to Category C Jail

Russell Brand, 51, has been moved to HMP Littlehey, a Category C prison in Cambridgeshire, five days into a 10½-year sentence for rape and sexual assaults. A retired prison governor called the decision "flabbergasting", sources said.

By Alistair Sterling

November 15, 20262 min read

Rapist Russell Brand, 51, was secretly moved to Category C prison HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire just five days into a 10½-year sentence for rape and sexual assaults, sources said. The jail houses only male sex offenders.

The former comedian was taken there for his own safety, according to sources. A retired prison governor called the placement "flabbergasting".

From a punishment block to E Wing

Brand had been held at HMP Wandsworth in South West London. Sources said he was kept in solitary in a "punishment block" there to stop other prisoners attacking him.

He was then driven 90 miles in a Serco prison van. The van was self-contained, with a tiny cell that stopped anyone seeing inside.

On arrival near Huntingdon, Brand wore a grey prison tracksuit. Ten guards marched him to cell 103, sources said. It is a single-person cell on E Wing, where prisoners spend their early weeks at Littlehey.

He has had no contact with the roughly 1,200 other inmates, almost half of them over 50. One source said Brand looked frightened as he was led to his cell, asked for blankets on his first night and has had extra officers looking after him.

Why Wakefield was ruled out

Brand was assessed for HMP Wakefield, nicknamed "Monster Mansion". Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, a convicted paedophile, was killed there last year.

That option was believed to have been judged too dangerous for Brand, who is being investigated for more alleged sexual offences. Experts say the Littlehey move could reflect a low escape risk, and it is understood safety concerns also played a part.

Vanessa Frake, a retired prison governor, questioned the decision. "I am absolutely flabbergasted that he is in a Category C prison," she said. "He has no previous convictions, but he has got a substantial sentence — and there's possibly more in the pipeline."

She said his public profile, the nature of his convictions and his vulnerability to attack would all have been part of the risk assessment. She would have expected Category B.

What Littlehey offers

The prison has an astroturf pitch and an inter-wing football league. Brand, a West Ham fan, could play in it. There are two gyms, two sports halls and indoor bowls.

Prisoners can also join a choir, play quizzes and board games including Scrabble, and take yoga or origami classes.

Mick Neville, a former detective, said the public would read the move as a perk. "People will see Littlehey as Brand given a soft option," he said. "People would expect him to spend time in a jail such as Monster Mansion after the appalling things he did."

Neville said the Prison Service had clearly decided Wakefield would put Brand at real risk and soak up huge resources to keep him safe. Disgraced PR agent Max Clifford and football coach Barry Bennell both died at Littlehey.