Katy Perry was all but airbrushed from her ex-husband's trial but the pop star may have witnessed one of his attacks, it can now be revealed.

In legal argument ahead of the case going before a jury, it was claimed Ms Perry may have been in the room when Russell Brand put his head in a woman's lap during filming for Channel 4.

Ian Winter KC, defending, said of the 2009 incident: 'She [the victim] says that other people were in the room and witnessed it, possibly including the defendant's future wife, Ms Katy Perry.'

But Scotland Yard never asked for a statement from the singer, 42.

And reference to the pop star's presence was removed from the trial after submissions by Brand's legal team.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC agreed to remove her name from the proceedings, saying: 'For the avoidance of doubt, the prosecution recognise that matters post-2009 involving his relationship with Katy Perry may be sensitive, as may his previous faiths, and we are content to remove these.'

The pair met in 2009 on the set of Get Him To The Greek, and married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Rajasthan, India, the following year.

But their marriage was over just 14 months later and they divorced in 2012.

Jurors were also blocked from hearing details of Brand's addiction to drink and drugs before his conversion to Christianity in 2024.

Senior Crown prosecutor David Roberts said: 'We followed all reasonable lines of inquiry in statements that would have been relevant to the specific charges and I'm satisfied that all reasonable lines of inquiry were covered.'