It took a jury of twelve eight-and-a-half hours to dismantle a persona that had been built over twenty-five years. On Friday, at Southwark Crown Court in London, Russell Brand, the 51-year-old comedian, broadcaster and actor, was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He stood in the dock and told his wife, Laura, that he loved her; when the verdicts came, he showed almost nothing, and as he was led away he mouthed to his lawyers that he was "good". The case, which lasted four weeks, reached back to the years between 1999 and 2009, when Brand's wild, verbose charm carried him from stand-up clubs to radio, television and Hollywood.

Six women gave evidence, and the picture that emerged was of a man who, as fame multiplied around him, treated the people nearby as entitled to nothing, least of all refusal. The jury cleared him on two further counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault, a reminder that the verdicts were weighed carefully rather than swept along by his notoriety. Refused bail, he will spend the weekend in custody, and Mr Justice Bennathan has warned him to expect a significant prison term when he returns for sentencing on Monday. The reckoning may not end there.

It can now be reported that two other women have made rape allegations, that Brand has already been questioned, and that the Metropolitan Police inquiry continues. Prosecutors called him "predatory", a manipulator whose methods varied but whose appetite for getting his own way did not. For audiences from London to Los Angeles, and from Mumbai, where Brand once courted a following in spiritual circles, the verdict forces an uncomfortable audit of laughter itself. Many of us applauded the same behaviour that a court has now described as criminal.