The Trial: Russell Brand

Jools Sweeney: The Continued Search for Answers

The Trial: Russell Brand

Show Notes

In this episode Liz speaks to Ellen Roome, the mum who has spent the past four years fighting for answers about the tragic death of her 14-year-old son Jools. After an inquest that lasted just 23 minutes and failed to properly examine his phone or social media activity, Ellen has now succeeded in getting the original verdict quashed by the High Court and a new inquest opened.

Ellen tells Liz why she believes social media could hold the key to understanding what happened to Jools, how her campaign has helped change the law, and why she is continuing to push for stronger protections for children online.

She also gives an update on the legal action she and other bereaved parents are taking against TikTok in the US.

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Presenter: Liz Hull Guest: Ellen Roome Editor: Chelsey Ranore Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham Assistant Producer: Harriet Muckle Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. The Trial series uses actors and some voices generated by AI. Their words are taken as verbatim from the official court transcript.

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A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from The Trial: Russell Brand

Oct 22, 2026

Day 9: We've now heard from all six of the women in the case. Today Caroline and Liz have the words of the final three of them. One alleges Russell Brand attacked her in a frenzy, kissing and groping her without warning in front of several members of his entourage, before laughing when she told him to 'f*** off.' Another claims he 'hurt and harmed her' during an alleged rape after she met him backstage at a stand-up gig. She says he refused to stop when she cried out in pain. The final woman also alleges sexual assault. She complained to her bosses at Channel 4 when he demanded a massage during a Christmas project they were working on.

Oct 21, 2026

Day 8: The final alleged victim of Russell Brand said she felt degraded “like a piece of meat” after he anally raped her. She said for years she blamed herself for willingly going to his house for sex. But she did not consent to what he did. She became an alcoholic and struggled to live with the guilt and shame. But she said part of her recovery was accepting what happened was not her fault. Russell Brand denies the charges.

Oct 20, 2026

It’s Day 7 of The Trial: Russell Brand and we’ve now heard from four of the six women at the case. They all accuse Russell Brand of some kind of sexual offences. Today we’ve got the words of a woman who says she was leapt on by Russell Brand when she was working for a radio station in the early 2000s when he was staring in the Big Brother spin off show. She said he leapt on her in a tiny room, kissed her and groped her, pinning her against a wall - and she said his entourage of three men and a woman did nothing to stop him. Another woman said Russell Brand orally raped her after dragging her into a toilet in a bar and another said Russell Brand put his head into groin during a filming project. Caroline and Liz have their words today.

Oct 19, 2026

It's Day 6 of Russell Brand's trial and we've now heard from three alleged victims. One of the women told the jury today that within 30 seconds of meeting him in a bar in 2004, Russell Brand grabbed her breasts, and then dragged her into the toilet where he orally raped her. The woman said she was in shock and in a daze after the alleged attack but afterwards Russell Brand simply suggested they swap numbers. We've also now heard from another woman who said that in 2001 Russell Brand also tried to drag her into the toilets after they met at MTV where she was working. She said he was forceful and he had a "wild look in his eye." She said he was trying to assault her but she managed to get away.

Oct 16, 2026

What really happened at the Labour Party Conference in 1999? A woman who says she was the victim of a sex attack there, claims he went from being charming and chatty to monstrous in a matter of hours.

See all episodes →