‘She was totally brainwashed’: Why Laura Gallacher’s family are deeply concerned about her… as they reveal how she became ‘besotted’ with Russell Brand, and her shock at verdict

As the storm swirled around convicted rapist Russell Brand last week, at its quiet centre stood his staunchest supporter: devoted wife Laura.

Dignified in sunglasses, she had clutched his hand as he made his way to and from Southwark Crown Court for each day of his trial, and had taken fervent notes from inside Courtroom Three as six women described their harrowing, and often deeply disturbing, tales of rape and sexual assault at his hands.

The message, if she had intended to send one, was clear. This was a woman who was unconditionally standing by her husband despite the allegations that had dogged him for years, and which she had insisted on hearing in forensic detail in court.

None of it was enough to convince her he was guilty.

And as the disgraced former comic and BBC Radio 2 presenter faces lengthy jail time when he is sentenced tomorrow, sources close to Laura’s family have told The Mail on Sunday of their deep concern for Laura herself.

They claim she was ‘totally brainwashed’ by Brand to believe he is innocent of the serious crimes for which he has now been convicted.

For the family, they say, it has been highly worrying that Laura – the daughter of golfing legend Bernard Gallacher and his wife Lesley – ‘simply didn’t believe much of what [Brand’s victims] said’.

She is said to be standing by him, even now, and is even ‘determined’ that he should appeal.

It reflects a pattern friends have observed throughout the couple’s nine-year marriage, in which charismatic Brand, 51, the father of her three children, exerted such a strong influence over Laura that she became convinced he could do no wrong.

And it was Brand – now a born-again Christian with 6.6 million, mainly US-based, subscribers to his spiritual YouTube channel – who they claim was the catalyst for her finding religion.

The sources say there is now significant relief that, with Brand behind bars, Laura, 39, may finally have a chance to live a life away from his influence – and may yet come to understand the hold he had over her.

They are hopeful that, with time, she may also change her mind about his guilt.

As one family friend says: ‘Russell gets what Russell wants. He has that charm and swagger, and Laura is besotted with him. She goes along with what he wants, it’s like he has totally brainwashed her.

‘But now she will be apart from him for what could amount to many years, that will stop – and that is a huge relief to those who love Laura. This is her chance, if she wishes to take it, to start her life with someone far, far nicer than Russell.’

Laura’s blind belief in her husband was evident to anyone observing the trial, something that only made those close to her increasingly concerned.

Watching her arrive each day in a blacked-out people carrier, they noticed what appeared to be her ‘growing anger’ as she sat through the women’s testimonies, which sources say she considered to be ‘lies’. Indeed, the couple’s regular YouTube videos, Sunday Service With The Brands – a home-spun Christian talk show involving Bible readings, prayers and spiritual reflections alongside conversations about marriage and family life – illustrate Laura’s devotion to the disgraced star.

In one recent video posted two weeks ago, during the trial, a fresh-faced Laura holds Brand’s gaze as he describes the ‘very, very unusual time in our marriage’ and nods as he talks of the need for ‘true justice’.

The couple hold eye contact as Laura admits putting on her ‘armour’ to attend the trial in south London.

‘I already get nervous driving around the corner,’ she says. ‘As soon as you see the name of the street… on Battlebridge [Lane] you don your armour, that’s what I feel. I immediately start to think, this is it now, this is it. Get into shape, get into your strength.’

In another video with Brand, Laura describes her awkwardness at being paraded in front of the cameras but adds that she feels ‘the presence of God’ in such moments. She had also been seen praying inside the courtroom.

Being confronted with the verdict on Thursday – Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three of sexual assault in relation to four victims between 2005 and 2009 – and having to leave the court alone because Brand was remanded into custody, left her ‘shocked and extremely upset’, sources say.

She is also said to be taking some comfort from the fact that he was acquitted of two other counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

‘Ever since the jury convicted Russell, Laura has been in shock,’ one friend says.

‘She believes he’s innocent and is saying the split verdict proves that. He was cleared on three of the seven counts, which means the jury didn’t believe half the women – that’s Laura’s view.’

Sources add she is angry that Brand was remanded in custody to HMP Wandsworth, meaning he couldn’t spend the weekend with her and the children. She believes he has been ‘badly treated’.

On Thursday night, after Brand was jailed, Laura spent the night at her parents’ home in Ascot, Berkshire, and returned to the home she shared with Brand 20 miles away near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the following morning.

The family have been spending most of their time in Florida in the US, although Laura will remain in the UK to stay close to her husband as he serves out his sentence.

The Gallachers, including Laura’s older sister, former Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher, are said to be ‘rallying around’ her and the children – Mabel, nine, Peggy, seven, and their three-year-old son, whose name has not been publicly released.

‘Laura’s loved ones are focused on Laura and what happens to her and the children now,’ the source added.

For a start, there are ongoing criminal investigations that could lead to further charges. Brand faces rape allegations involving two more women – including a 16-year-old girl – which are being probed by Met Police.

It means the family are keen to keep Laura close and, ideally, move closer to them in Henley.

‘It’s very likely that Russell will have another trial, so she’ll want to support him through that, but it’s too soon for anyone to know what’ll happen in the future,’ the family friend said.

‘Kirsty and Laura are close, so it makes sense for Laura to be back here, near her husband, near her family, then see what happens.’

The whole scandal has been ‘very difficult’ for the whole family and has left Bernard, who captained the European Ryder Cup team three times, ‘heartbroken’. It has also ‘taken its toll’ on Leslie.

But for Kirsty, who had become ‘very close’ to Brand, his downfall has also been a shock.

She is also said to have believed he was innocent, and there is guilt, too, that it was her connection to him – they shared a management team – which led Laura to meet him at a gig when she was 19.

Friends say Brand was a ‘rock’ to Kirsty after she divorced her husband, former England rugby star Paul Sampson, in 2015, and again following her drink-driving conviction two years later.

‘Kirsty has been very open about how Russell was someone she would go to for advice,’ a friend of the Gallacher family says. She would say he was her sounding board through her difficult times, and there were quite a few – she really struggled after her drink-driving conviction.

‘Russell would always have been on hand to offer her advice. In return she stood by him and believed he was innocent of the despicable crimes he was accused of.

‘She adored Russell – he played the wise old owl to her, and she said she felt extremely lucky to have him in her life. She was always so happy to have introduced them, now there’s an element of guilt.’

Those who knew Laura before she began dating Brand describe her as a fun-loving girl who loved to giggle.

Although she and the comedian briefly dated after being introduced by Kirsty, they reconciled a decade later in 2015, during a chance meeting on London’s Grand Union Canal. Brand had recently separated from his first wife, US pop star Katy Perry.

Laura became pregnant soon after, and gave up her career in the restaurant industry to write and illustrate children’s books. She also became a ‘mummy blogger’, writing about her family life online.

In April last year, shortly before he was charged, Brand announced that the family had moved to a £1million rented mansion in Florida as he continued to cultivate a following in the US.

Sources suggest that Laura could continue with the couple’s YouTube show on her own. ‘It’s the sort of thing that would make Russell happy,’ says a friend.

But whether she will change her mind on his guilt remains something her family and friends can only hope will happen with Brand’s continuing absence.

‘There’s still so much that could come,’ says my source. ‘You can’t help thinking life would have been way less painful for Laura if they had never met.’