The UK’s work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden says the government will debate the age of consent after a woman who alleges she was raped by Russell Brand when she was 16 called for the law to be changed.

The 51-year-old English comedian was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison on November 9 after being convicted of rape and sexual assault.

Mia Latter, one of the six women who made allegations against Brand in Channel 4’s Dispatches investigation in 2023, told the Sunday Times she wants the age of consent to be staggered.

Called “Alice” in the documentary, she has waived her right to anonymity.

Under UK law, it is legal for adults of any age to have sex with 16 and 17-year-olds.

Staggered or graduated consent means that the law would take account of the age difference between sexual partners, rather than treating 16 as the point at which a child can legally consent to sexual activity with someone of any age.

Latter told the Sunday Times: “I don’t want to criminalise teenagers having sex with each other.

“If you’re between the ages of 16 and 18, it seems reasonable that you can have relationships with each other.

“But…if you’re in your thirties, forties and fifties and you’re trying to have a relationship with someone under the age of 18, it [should be] a criminal offence.”

The HMP Wakefield prison was reportedly deemed too dangerous to house Russell Brand. Photo: AP

Brand denied the allegations at the time and none of the six women were complainants in Brand’s recent criminal trial.

On Friday Brand was secretly transferred from HMP Wandsworth in south London to the “softer” category C facility HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire.

“Brand looked like he was shitting himself as he was led to his cell,” a source told The Sun on Sunday.

“He was heard asking for blankets on his first night and he’s had extra officers looking after him since he arrived.

“He’s got his own cell and he’s not interacted with any of the other inmates yet.”

Brand was assessed for HMP Wakefield, where former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was murdered in 2025, but it was deemed too dangerous.

According to the outlet, he was likely to have been moved to a single cell at Littlehey for his safety and had not yet had contact with other inmates.

“People will see Littlehey as Brand given a soft option,” former detective Mick Neville said.

“People would expect him to spend time in a jail such as Monster Mansion (Wakefield) after the appalling things he did.

“But the Prison Service have clearly decided that putting him into Monster Mansion would be a real risk to him and soak up massive resources to keep him safe.

“After the murder of Ian Watkins, to put another celebrity like Brand in Wakefield would put him and officers at risk.”

The HMP Wakefield prison was reportedly deemed too dangerous to house Russell Brand. Photo: EPA

The ex-policeman noted category B prisons would have had violent prisoners hoping to enhance their status behind bars by targeting Brand, so he would be safer at Littlehey.

“It will still be a massive change of the lifestyle he has been used to,” he said.

“He will now be living with fellow perverts and sex offenders and will have years to repent and learn the errors of his ways.”

Prisoners at Littlehey can play in the inter-prison football league, take classes in origami and yoga, play indoor bowls or visit the gym, join a choir, and enjoy quizzes and board games.

During his brief stint at Wandsworth, Brand – who is under investigation for further alleged sexual offences – was kept in solitary segregation in a punishment block for his safety.

The 20 basement cells are usually reserved for those who have misbehaved but also house inmates deemed to be too at risk for even the vulnerable prisoners’ unit.

Russell Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Photo: EPA

The basic cells feature a steel toilet with no seat, a cardboard table and a bed with a thin mattress.

Inmates are let out once a day to shower and collect a hot meal.

“Meals are not taken away and the cells stink,” a source said.

“It is the worst place imaginable to be.

“It would have tested Brand to his very limit and he must have spent those days contemplating the life of luxury in Florida he had swapped for the hellhole.

“It was used to keep him safe from any inmates wanting to make a name for themselves.

“It was inevitable he would be shipped out very quickly.”

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

-with AAP