Russell Brand charged by police over alleged driving offences
Russell Brand has been charged by police over allegations he was twice caught speeding and did not respond to legal letters about the alleged offences.
Separately the comedian and actor, 49, is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police over allegations of sex crimes made against him by multiple women.
A file on the complaints has been handed to the Crown Prosecution Service to determine if Brand should face charges.
The Standard has discovered that Brand is also facing separate legal troubles over alleged flaws in his driving.
He has been charged with two allegations of speeding and two counts of failing to tell police if he or someone else had been driving the car.
Brand has hired the law firm of Nick "Mr Loophole" Freeman to represent him to police and in the magistrates court hearings over the driving charges.
His case was initially dealt with in the notoriously secretive Single Justice Procedure where magistrates sit in private, but now appears to be heading to a hearing in open court.
At the height of his fame, Brand was a star of Hollywood films, a Radio 2 host, and a sought-after stand-up comedian and TV presenter.
Russell Brand (James Manning/PA)PA ArchiveBut a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches revealed last year that four women had accused Brand of sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013.
Read More E-bike rider arrested after London crash leaves woman in 70s 'critical' 'Human remains and bones' found in south-east London Met boss rebukes Khan and MPs over Kaba police shooting case Family of murdered girl, 13, appeal for help 30 years onBrand denies all the claims, saying all his sexual relationships were "absolutely always consensual".
And in a video statement posted online, he says he faces "litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks".
"Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute," he said.
"These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies and as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous."
He continued: "Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.
"I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.
"To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: is there another agenda at play?"
Russell Brand presenting outside the Big Brother House in 2006Brand, the former Big Brother host, has converted himself in recent years from mainstream celebrity to online conspiracy theorist and influencer, with millions of followers on YouTube.
He made an appearance at the Republican National Convention to support Donald Trump in the summer.
According to court papers obtained by The Standard which relate to one of the speeding charges and one allegation of failing to answer a police letter, it is said a Mini registered to Brand was caught out on a speed camera on March 23.
The vehicle was allegedly going at 37mph in a 30mph zone in Shiplake, near to his Oxfordshire home, Thames Valley Police say.
It is further alleged that Brand was written to at his £3.7 million thatched retreat in Henley-on-Thames in April and a reminder letter was also dispatched, but there was no response.
Thames Valley Police say Brand's Mini was caught speeding near to his Oxfordshire homeTVPIn a letter to the court, Brand's lawyer from Freeman & Co Solicitors asked for no pleas to be entered against any of the charges.
"We would respectfully request that the Single Justice take no pleas at this stage and that the cases be listed for a mention hearing so that representations can be made to the police in relation to a swift resolution of the matter", he wrote on October 10.
"Should the court not be satisfied with no pleas being entered then we would ask for preliminary not guilty pleas to be taken for ALL FOUR charges.
"We would ask that a trial date is not fixed and that the case is listed for either mention or case management hearing."
Court records show the case came before a magistrate sitting in Oxford on October 25, with no pleas being recorded.
The cases were adjourned to a future date for a hearing in open court.
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