Russell Brand appears to have earned an unusual nickname from fellow inmates after spending his first few nights in a London prison.
The 51-year-old British actor is said to have been placed in a particularly restrictive section of HMP Wandsworth, where his first night was reportedly made unpleasant.
According to the Daily Mail, an inmate smeared or threw feces and urine around a cell. The incident is said to have taken place in the prison’s Care and Separation Unit (CSU), where Brand is being held while awaiting sentencing.
Inmates and staff commonly call the unit ‘The Block’ or ‘The Seg,’ according to VT, and Brand’s placement there has reportedly earned him the nickname ‘Russell from the Block’.
The decision to keep him away from the general prison population is linked to concerns about his safety.
Russell Brand in prison
One source claimed he had been ‘petrified’ ahead of his first night behind bars and is now being monitored ‘around the clock.’
“Some of the officers and inmates will be excited to have a celebrity in there,” a source told The Sun.
“But a lot of the cons would want to do him some ?damage, so he will not be allowed to mix in Wandsworth, and it will be safer for him (to be kept in the CSU).”
The source also added: “Brand’s first day in jail was a real shock to his system and a wake-up call. He looked shaken and was quiet. A horrible, noisy and dirty jail like Wandsworth is a world away from his glamorous Hollywood lifestyle.”
Brand’s long-term prison placement has not yet been confirmed.
His arrival at Wandsworth comes after a jury found him guilty of one count of rape and three sexual assault offenses involving four women between 2004 and 2009.
However, he was acquitted of two additional rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The verdict was delivered at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday, November 5, following two days of jury deliberations.
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