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Brand made out he was female and had seen someone that matched the description of the wanted attacker during his stand-up performance

Russell Brand made a hoax call to police during a performance at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton 15 years ago, claiming to have seen a wanted “underpass attacker” of women.

The 90-minute Dispatches programme on Brand’s alleged rape and sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013 first aired on Channel 4 on Saturday (September 16).

The allegations were part of a joint investigation between the Times, Sunday Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches, which has been ongoing since 2019.

The incident was reported in the print copy of the Chronicle & Echo newspaper on July 15, 2008.

Five women shared their stories in the joint investigation, with claims also made about Brand’s behaviour towards women and at work over the same seven year period.

Brand denied accusations of rape, sexual assault, and controlling and emotionally abusive behaviour in a video published online ahead of the broadcast of ‘Russell Brand: In Plain Sight’ on Channel 4.

During a stand-up comedy performance at the Royal & Derngate on Saturday July 12, 2008, the comedian and presenter was seen to call the Northamptonshire Police emergency response line – pretending to have seen the wanted “underpass attacker”.

He claimed he had seen a suspicious man in polka dot trousers, matching the description of someone wanted for attacking women in underpasses in the town.

During a stand-up comedy performance at the Royal & Derngate on Saturday July 12, 2008, the comedian was seen to call the Northamptonshire Police emergency response line – pretending to have seen the wanted “underpass attacker”.

Video footage of this was posted online 15 years ago, as reported in a print copy of the Chronicle & Echo newspaper on July 15, 2008 – and it showed Brand borrowing a mobile phone from an audience member and being put through to the incident room.

Brand said: “I was just ringing regarding something I read in the local paper, it’s regarding the attacks in the underpass.

“I have got some information for you. I saw a gentleman who fits the description. He was wearing a light green top and polka dot trousers and I thought, well look at the state of him.”

Brand urged the audience to stay quiet during the call and when questions were raised by the operator about the background noise, Brand said it was an episode of The Bill that he was watching.

He went on to say his name was Sarah before apparently getting cut off.

Following the incident, a Northamptonshire Police spokesman said at the time: “We would discourage anyone from making calls such as this.”

Three women were attacked in underpasses in the town in 2008, with the first two believed to be linked to the same individual.

In the first attack, a young mother was sexually assaulted as she was pushing her child in a pram along the Lady’s Lane underpass, near the former bus station.

At the time, police were keeping an open mind as to whether they believed that incident to be linked to one 12 days later in the same spot – when a 50-year-old woman was attacked.

Russell Brand made hoax police call during Royal & Derngate show, claiming to have seen wanted ‘underpass attacker’ of women