UK prosecution labels Russell Brand a ruthless sexual predator at opening of his sex assault trial

LONDON (AP) — Russell Brand behaved as a “ruthless” sexual predator when he assaulted six women over the course of a decade, a prosecutor said Wednesday, as she opened the rape and sexual assault case against the actor-comedian.Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The charges involve six women and alleged offenses between 1999 and 2009.Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors at Southwark Crown Court in London that the six women, who don't know each other, were assaulted by Brand in “a hotel room, workplaces, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.”She said Brand at the time had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact, and “women were simply a means to an end.”The prosecutor said Brand could be funny and charming, “a flirt with a huge sexual appetite — childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met.”“He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipula