Inside Russell Brand’s first 24 HOURS in prison: Disgraced comedian isn’t seeing the funny side as he faces full force of abuse from fellow inmates, sources reveal

He may still be keeping his Bible close to his chest, but the smart suit and silk cravat that Russell Brand wore during his trial have been replaced with drab prison gear. 

After he was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison at Southwark Crown Court yesterday for rape and sexual assault, the disgraced 51-year-old comedian is said to have spent ‘hours on end’ meditating and reading the Bible while trying to avoid other inmates.

A source told the Daily Mail: ‘He’s tried hard to maintain a dignified and calm manner, though being jailed for so long is obviously going to be causing him huge distress.

‘He’s been trying not to show fear so is staying in his cell as much as he can.

‘Brand got a couple of books from the library – a Bible and some prayer books. He’s been reading, meditating and praying for hours on end.’

So, what did Brand’s first 24 hours behind bars look like after he was sentenced yesterday and what conditions can he expect to face at HMP Wandsworth?

In stark contrast to the cheeky wink that Brand gave his wife Laura at the beginning of his sentencing hearing, as he was eventually led out of the dock he tried to assure her that everything would be ‘alright’ and mouthed ‘I love you’ before being taken back into custody.

Later that afternoon, as Brand’s van pulled up to the gates of HMP Wandsworth at 4.30pm, a number of people had gathered to heckle the rapist as he arrived.

One woman who had been walking her dog past the Victorian jail shouted: ‘Rot in hell you rapist, you f***ing pig. Justice for women. F*** you Russell. Your poor family, you’re a disgrace. You deserve everything you’re getting.’

Another man who was walking past shouted: ‘You dirty p****.’

Along with members of the public, inmates reportedly welcomed Brand to the infamous south London jail by chanting: ‘There’s a Brand new n***e on the wing! A Brand new n***e. Brand, you c***, you ain’t so f***ing lairy now.’

Brand had been held in a one-man cell at the Victorian prison since Thursday, after receiving his conviction, while he awaited his sentencing hearing this week.

On first arriving at HMP Wandsworth, Brand was put in the induction wing before being placed in the Care and Separation Unit (CSU), the segregation and solitary confinement area – also known as ‘The Block’ or ‘The Seg’ – where high-risk inmates are housed.

Prisoners within the CSU spend most of the day locked in their cells – with movement tightly controlled and limited access to education and social interaction.

The CSU unit is located mostly below ground level in what are known as the ‘bowels’ of the Victorian prison, with the actor now jokingly being called ‘Russell from the Block’.

Prison governors can put an inmate in segregation for up to 72 hours at first, before a review board decides whether this should be extended, so it remains to be seen whether Brand will remain protected in the unit.

Guards at Wandsworth decided that Brand was too famous for the ‘Vulnerable Prisoners’ (VPs) wing, where rapists and other sex offenders are usually held.

Brand is believed to be locked up in his own cell in C-wing, which houses around 100 fellow prisoners, most of whom are VPs.

Fellow prisoners said there is an atmosphere of excitement with lags desperate to get a glimpse of the celebrity.

The rapist is in his own cell for the moment, reserved for VPs, and has access to gym equipment, including pull up and dip bars, a football pitch and a basketball court.

A prison source said he’ll remain safe in C-wing. ‘He’s in no real danger in there with other VPs, he’s protected. But the rest of the prison is very dangerous.’

Daniel, a sex offender on his wing who was released on Tuesday, said it’s like ‘Sainsburys’ for Brand and other rich felons.

‘With money he’ll be able to get whatever he wants. A TV in his room, an Xbox, sweets, cake and whatever food. It’s like Sainsburys’.

Brand was medically examined and strip-searched before being locked in a 9.8ft by 6.7ft cell – a far cry from his £5million six-bedroom home in Oxfordshire.

Then he would have been served an evening meal and given a ‘first-night pack’ which consists of toiletries including a toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet roll and a food pack of cereal, tea, milk and sugar as well as Polos, juice sticks and digestive biscuits.

After the heavy steel door slammed shut behind him, Brand faced a night on a rock-hard bed in a cramped cell.

This morning he would have been served cereal or porridge, fruit and a cup of tea.

On one of the few occasions that Brand left his cell to visit the exercise yard on his own, he was seen tightly clutching his Bible.

A source told the Daily Mail: ‘He has come across as very humble with the few inmates he has had any interactions with.

‘There has been teasing with songs and p***taking – but the ones he’s spoken to have tended to be quite sympathetic which may have made things slightly easier for him.’

Another source said: ‘Russell Brand was standing in the yard, looking up to the sky, holding a Bible and reading aloud from it.

‘At that moment another prisoner spotted him from a window and shouted “Russell” which he responded to by raising his hand.

‘Then other prisoners started to come to their cell windows and started shouting things like “N***e!” and “No means no Russell”. It was somewhere between banter and abuse – typical prison humour.

‘But he took it quite calmly. Instead of rushing back inside he put his arms behind his back and slowly walked towards the building while looking up towards the windows where the shouting was coming from to show he wasn’t rattled.’

Another witness to the incident said: ‘Brand looked miserable. And a little scared. The other cons were shouting stuff down to him, calling him everything, and chanting. One of the inmates then yelled “Russell, lend me some money!”’

Grimly, Brand’s arrival at Wandsworth Prison had also coincided with an inmate deliberately smearing and throwing faeces around his cell – commonly known as a dirty protest.

But our source insisted this was unconnected to the arrival of a celebrity prisoner.

They said: ‘That was just a coincidence, it had nothing to do with Brand being jailed.

‘It was a prisoner who is notorious for staging dirty protests and who has done it on many previous occasions.’

Meanwhile a former Wandsworth prisoner, who gave his name only as Ricky, gave the Daily Mail an insight into the grim conditions Brand can expect to face behind bars.

Ricky, who was held there for six months in 2024, said: ‘There’s massive rats scurrying around and they leave their droppings everywhere.

‘The block where Russell Brand is freezing. There’s hardly any heating, even in winter.

‘And the cell walls are covered in mould but nothing is ever done about it. It’s just painted over so nobody notices.’

Brand is ‘devastated’ and ‘terrified’ of the conditions in the prison with word spreading that fellow inmates are ‘out to get him’.

A source said he told fellow prisoners he is ‘devastated and the conditions terrify him but he is praying.’

Prisoners have discussed bullying him and trying to get money out of him.

Another source said: ‘Some people are out to get him because he’s famous. They want to get money off him. He will get bullied.’

During a ‘Sunday Sermon’ podcast that Brand had hosted with his wife Laura from his home in Oxfordshire, he told her how frightened he was of being sent to prison.

Now that Brand faces his first long, cold winter behind bars, it remains to be seen whether his devotion to religion can get him through his lengthy sentence.

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