Russell Brand gave £3k to Grays rape charity after sexual assault

Brand was born and brought up in the area, attending Grays School, now known as the Hathaway Academy.

In 2013, he opened the Thurrock Mind charity shop in Grays.

In 2022, he campaigned to save the Thameside Theatre over concerns it would be sold off by cash-strapped Thurrock Council.

Coates said: “There is something about celebrity, money, power, control. When you get fame and money, some men abuse that position and that’s what he’s done.

“We’ve seen this so many times with famous men, it’s not a shock it’s disappointment and it goes on and on and on, that’s the disappointment, not really the shock because we’ve seen this with others.”

Brand is now serving a sentence of 10 years and six months after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

Coates believed there would be “positives and negatives” after the high-profile case when it came to other victims of sexual assault coming forward.

She was concerned about “victim blaming” since the outcome, adding: “I’ve heard things like ‘it was a long time ago’, ‘why didn’t she report it sooner?’.

“That’s all normal behaviour for victims for all sorts of logical psychological reasons.

“We still need to do some work around the myths and facts around sexual assault, all judges are supposed to do that, but I don’t think all of them do, so we’ve got to make sure that happens so that justice is fair and victims are not blamed for their own assault.”

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, external, Instagram, external and X, external.