British comedian and actor Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault.

The 49-year-old appeared in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday flanked by two officers, where he stood stock-still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.

He is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room while she attended a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and grabbing a TV worker’s breasts and orally raping her after dragging her into a male toilet.

Brand is also alleged to have grabbed a radio station worker’s face, pushing her against a wall and kissing her before groping her breasts and buttocks.

The final charge alleges the actor indecently assaulted another woman after grabbing her forearm and attempting to drag her into a male toilet.

The allegations against Brand are said to have taken place against four women between 1999 and 2005.

The defendant, of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, who faces one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault, is due to stand trial on June 3 next year at the same court.

As Friday’s hearing finished, the comedian replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walked past reporters.

He was charged following an investigation by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times newspaper in which several women made allegations against him.

Brand previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.(dpa/NAN)

 A 50-year-old man was on Friday given a 20-month suspended sentence for blackmailing a German priest with nude photos.

During the trial at Augsburg District Court in the southern state of Bavaria, the defendant, who had no previous convictions, admitted to all charges.

According to the indictment, he sent nude photos downloaded from an internet platform hosting homosexual content, as well as a photo showing the priest, to the theologian at the end of 2022.

He threatened to give the photos to television stations and publish them in the priest’s parish, and demanded the priest send him 50,000 euros (56,600 U.S. dollars).

Later, the defendant also sent an email with the nude photos to the priest’s parish office.

The priest did not respond to either attempt or contact but reported the matter to the police.

The defendant was charged with attempted extortion and sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.

The sentence was suspended on probation.

The man must also pay 800 euros.

The verdict is not yet final. (dpa/NAN)

Mr Lere Olayinka, spokesman of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has faulted the position of Sen. Ireti Kingibe on the enforcement of ground rent by the FCT Administration.Kingibe, representing the FCT in the Senate under the Labour Party, had challenged the sealing of property by the FCT Administration, describing it as unconstitutional.

The senator in statement noted that although enforcement of tax obligations was necessary, defaulting in ground rent payments was no legal ground for arbitrary takeover of property. Responding, Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant to Wike on Public Communications and Social Media, said in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, that the senator was unaware of the provisions of the Land Use Act.He described Kingibe’s comment on the enforcement of payment of ground rent as illogical, explaining that land allocation comes with conditions.According to him, land allocation comes with conditions that must be met, one of which is the annual payment of ground rent without demand notice.He advised the senator against using the ground rent enforcement to score cheap political gain.“It is surprising that a serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose duty is to make laws, is ignorant of the provisions of Section 28, Subsections (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.“Section 28, Subsections (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act provides that ‘The Government may revoke a Statutory Right of Occupancy on the ground of; (a) a breach of any of the provisions which a certificate of occupancy is by Section 10 deemed to contain; and (b) a breach of any term contained in the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).“Now, is annual payment of ground rent not part of the terms contained in the C of O? ,” he asked.The spokesperson asked whether Kingibe would look away if land allottees refused to pay ground rent for 10 to 43 years if she was the FCT minister. Report says that the FCTA had on Monday, began taking over 4,794 revoked properties in the territory over unpaid ground rent, amounting to more than N6 billion.Tinubu, however, gave the defaulters 14-day grace to pay the outstanding ground rent and associated penalties. (NAN)