Russell Brand spent his first night in solitary confinement at one of Britain's worst prisons while a fellow inmate carried out a dirty protest, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The disgraced actor arrived at HMP Wandsworth in south-west London in a prison van after his conviction yesterday and was put in the Care and Separation Unit (CSU).

The CSU is the prison's designated segregation and solitary confinement area - also known as 'The Block' or 'The Seg' - where high-risk inmates sit alone in their cells.

The unit is located mostly below ground level in what are known as the 'bowels' of the Victorian prison, with the actor now being dubbed: 'Russell from the Block'.

Guards at Wandsworth decided that Brand was too famous for the 'Vulnerable Prisoners' (VPs) wing, where many rapists and other sex offenders are held.

Brand faces a potentially years-long imprisonment after being convicted of raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three women during his showbiz heyday.

He preyed on women he encountered while becoming one of Britain's best-known stand-up comedians, a lauded TV and radio host and a Hollywood star. It comes as:

• Police investigations are ongoing into two allegations of rape against Brand;
• The Met Police chief predicted 'many, many more' women could come forward;
• Brand said he was scared of the prospect of jail in a podcast with his wife;
• One former lover told him to 'tell the truth' and said she was wrong to trust him;
• Questions were asked over how prominent figures on the Left cosied up to him.

Brand will return to Southwark Crown Court on Monday for his sentencing, with officials said to be keen to get him out of Wandsworth to a more suitable prison.

Prison governors or operational managers can put an inmate in segregation for up to 72 hours at first, before a review board decides whether this should be extended.

Prisoners within the CSU spend almost the whole day locked in their cells – with movement tightly controlled and limited access to education and social interaction.

The CSU at Wandsworth is known as one of the worst parts of the jail, with the stench said to be particularly awful at the moment when a prisoner carries out a dirty protest.

This is when an inmate decides to deliberately smear or throw bodily waste, usually faeces and sometimes urine, around their cell or sometimes onto prison staff.

Wandsworth has previously been dubbed one of Britain's worst prisons after a series of inspection reports criticised its ageing infrastructure and chronic overcrowding.

Brand was said to be 'petrified' after being taken to the jail last night. The 51-year-old star had been visibly shaken as the prospect of prison loomed over his trial, saying he was scared in an episode of his Sunday Service show with wife Laura Gallacher.

In the recording on October 11 - the day before the jury was selected - Ms Gallacher, who left the court in tears yesterday, read out a message from a supporter who told him that God would be with him in prison and that he would 'get through it'.

Brand, who said he entered court wearing the 'full armour of God', tapped her on the shoulder and said: 'I don't like things where it's like you might have to go to prison.'

She replied sympathetically: 'Yeah, I know, but that is just the nature of what a trial is.'

Months earlier, Brand had been asked by Piers Morgan whether he had considered the 'reality' that he could end up in jail. He replied: 'I will be with God wherever I am.'

After Brand arrived at Wandsworth last night, he was medically examined and strip-searched before being given a prison tracksuit to wear and taken to the CSU.

He spent the night on a rock-hard bed inside a cramped cell at the 1851 prison, before being served cereal or porridge, fruit and a cup of tea this morning.

As the first 24 hours in prison carry a high risk of acute emotional distress or self-harm, staff conducted risk assessments as they would do with all new inmates.

Brand is also believed to have undergone body scans while fingerprints and mugshots were taken before his personal cash and belongings were removed.

One treasured possession Brand was allowed to keep was his Bible.

After being booked in, Brand was placed in a holding cell with other new arrivals as his cell in the jail's induction wing was prepared.

Because Brand, previously a vegan and vegetarian, arrived after the evening meal had been served, a simple packed lunch-style dinner was placed in his cell.

He was also given a 'first-night pack' which consists of toiletries including a toothbrush and toothpaste and a food pack including cereal, tea, milk and sugar.

The packs also contain treats including Polos, juice sticks and digestive biscuits.

Brand was also handed one toilet roll. He was given two pairs of prison-issue jogging bottoms plus T-shirts and sweatshirts and underwear.

He was allowed one three-minute phonecall behind bars – likely to have been made to Ms Gallacher. 

But that will be his only call for a week, because all phone numbers have to be approved and assigned a PIN.

Brand was monitored around the clock and blocked from mixing with other inmates.

With facilities run on strict timetables, cell doors were locked shortly after he settled in. Regular checks were carried out on Brand during the night in line with usual prison protocols.

The star's new surroundings are basic - a bed consisting of a flimsy mattress on top of a fixed concrete slab, stainless steel toilet and wash basin and a bolted down table and stool.

It was a scene that could not be further removed from the star's now former home - a £6million six-bedroom riverside mansion in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. 

Hardened criminals have confessed how losing their freedom for the first time had left them deeply distressed and disorientated.

Describing the experience, the volunteer-run Doing Time website says: 'The first night tends to pass very slowly, as it has for countless prisoners before you.

'Every horror story you've ever heard about prison will probably run through your head, and if you've seen The Shawshank Redemption, you'll be bracing for the worst.

'It would be dishonest to pretend there's no violence or conflict in prison - there is, and not all of it makes the news.'

After his four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, Brand, who had previously been on bail, seemed ill-prepared for what was to come - apparently arriving without an overnight suitcase he would have been advised to bring with him.

As the jury delivered their damning verdicts, Brand - who was accused of groping women and forcing them into sexual acts in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999 to 2009 - stood upright in the dock.

He closed his eyes but showed little other emotion as he was convicted of one rape and three counts of sexual assault and cleared of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

Flanked by security staff, the celebrity was taken from the dock in Courtroom Three and led downstairs to a holding cell below while his wife, Laura Gallacher, wept from the public gallery.

A request by the star's legal team to allow him to say goodbye to her and their three children before being taken into custody was denied.

He would have been given the opportunity later to make a brief phone call home - simply to ensure family arrangements had been put in place.

Brand will remain in his present jail until Monday morning when he will return to court to be sentenced. He has already been told he faces a long custodial sentence.

Sources told the Daily Mail that Brand's lawyers are considering all options and may seek to appeal the verdict on the grounds that he was not given a fair trial.

The star, who is already said to have spent £5million on legal representatives, is said to be awaiting his sentence before he decides how to proceed.

It is also believed that Brand's lawyers are considering submitting requests to prison authorities for the star to be moved to a jail such as HMP Huntercombe, where tennis legend Boris Becker served time.

The jail is close to Brand's home although Huntercombe is exclusively designated for adult male foreign national offenders.

Brand's incarceration began in the bowels of the court building, where he spent two hours before being collected by HM Prison Service guards and escorted to a secure van and driven out via a side gate.

Brand kept his head bowed to avoid being pictured through a van window by a scrum of waiting photographers.

Upon arrival through the prison gates, he was taken to the reception area and officially processed, undergoing identity verification and security checks and having what little personal property he had on him removed and logged.

His smart grey and black pinstripe suit, waistcoat and high-heeled cowboy-style boots were bagged up and placed in storage with Brand being handed his drab, prison tracksuit.

The star's physical and mental health checks would have included substance misuse assessments and a suicide and self-harm risk screening before he was moved to the jail's segregation wing.

He has now lost all access to social media with mobile phones and laptops deemed contraband.

Even the crucifix he wore around his neck and the rosary beads he clutched for comfort would have been taken off him to reduce the potential of him harming himself.

Brand was found guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo.

He was also found guilty of groping another MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar in 2004, but not guilty of going on to orally rape her in a toilet.

Jurors found Brand guilty of sexually assaulting a Capital Radio worker after meeting her in a corridor in 2005 and guilty of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker during a forced massage in 2009.

He was cleared of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth and was found not guilty of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.

The judge, Mr Justice Bentham, told him: 'You've been convicted of a number of offences including rape. The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term.'

A conviction of rape can carry a life sentence, with standard maximum determinate sentences often reaching up to 19 years depending on the severity and guidelines.

Sexual assault convictions, meanwhile, carry a maximum sentence of 10 years per count.