SOUTHWARK, London - Retired golfer Bernard Gallacher attended Southwark Crown Court on Monday as his daughter Laura and son-in-law Russell Brand faced continued proceedings in the comedian's rape trial.
Gallacher, 77, was pictured putting his hands on his daughter's back as they exited a silver Mercedes and approached the court steps. He sat next to Laura in the public gallery as Brand's lawyer Ian Winter KC delivered his closing speech.
Winter argued that a Channel 4 documentary and reports in the Times and Sunday Times from 2023 'poisoned the well of justice' by prompting complainants to come forward. He told jurors that Brand 'obviously genuinely believed that they were consenting' and asked whether it was possible he raped just three women from among many who voluntarily had sex with him.
The trial, involving allegations spanning a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009, has featured testimony from six female complainants who allege Brand attacked women in hotel rooms, at his luxury London home, in workplaces, and in a Soho bar toilet. Brand, 51, denies seven criminal charges: three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Laura Brand has attended court several times and gave evidence describing her husband as 'caring' and 'kind', stating honesty is at the centre of their marriage. The couple married in 2017 and share three children.
Bernard Gallacher is a former Ryder Cup winner and three-time European captain, originally from Bathgate, West Lothian in Scotland. The jury is scheduled to hear the remainder of Winter's closing speech this afternoon after the trial broke for lunch.
