Sunday 14 May 2017

Precious Metals Investment Scam: Four Jailed For £7.75m Plot

Sabin & Ridpath Sold "Worthless Barrels Of Junk"
Four precious metals investment scammers, who duped hundreds of customers out of £7.75m in savings and pensions for “worthless barrels of junk”, have been jailed for a total of 29 years.

Using a misleading website and inaccurate glossy brochure they either cold-called customers with scripted patter or placed ads offering the opportunity to purchase supposedly lucrative metals vital to 80% of the world’s industry.

Ringleaders Christopher Sabin, 44, of Eyot House, Church Street, Shoreham, Sevenoaks and Tobias Ridpath, 52, of Wellington Square, Hastings each received nine years.

Prolific salesman Nicholas Start, 35, of Spencer Close, Pamber Heath, Tadley, Hampshire, who pocketed at least £132,000 in commission over a few months received seven years.

William Berkeley, 52, of Barrington Court, Chichester Terrace, Horsham joined the scam near its conclusion, running their Switzerland office and received four years.

All four were convicted by a Blackfriars Crown Court jury of to conspiring to defraud investors by making false representations and a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will follow to confiscate their profits.

Prosecutor Mr. David Durose told jurors Denver Trading - started by Sabin and Ridpath -  was run from a short-term £860 per month office in the City.
Pension Pirate: Ridpath

The court was told Start headed a “prolific” brokerage - London Commodity Markets - and Berkeley took over the Swiss branch of the business after the original director quit, claiming the business “stank horribly.”

One typical investor, Cecil McMurray, invested £243,000. “He lost a vast amount of money.”

Another client bought 100 kilos of rare metals in September, 2012 for £39,000 and two-and-a-half years later that investment was worth £285.

The investors did not know approximately 50% of the money they handed over immediately went to the company as a sales commission - halving the investment, the jury were told.

“Not one of them have made a penny and they have lost pension pots and life savings. The losses are in the millions and millions of pounds.

“They were duped into investing,” explained Mr. Durose, who said the fraud lasted approximately one year from Spring, 2012.

Judge Rajeev Shetty said today: “All the buyers have ended up with worthless barrels of junk, either gathering dust or have long since been disposed of. The loss to them has been total, no one has made one pound back.

“The jury found this was all a scam, a ruthless vehicle designed to rip-off people of their savings and pension pots to make you all wealthy.

“Making as much money as possible was the name of the game and that game is now up.” 

Investors were wooed with promises of returns on investments in Rare Earth Metals and Rare Earth Elements, which were vital in engineering and manufacturing.

Jailed Again: Fraudster Start
The court heard dad-of-three Sabin and father-of-two Ridpath founded the company in the Seychelles on February 23, 2013 and quickly gave it the trappings of a successful business.

They had previously been disqualified as company directors, with Sabin running a suspicious fine art investment company and Ridpath a discredited champagne investment firm.

Judge Shetty told Start, who had only been out of prison for six months for a £100,000-plus fraud. “You knew what was going on. You were a skilled manipulator with a skilful sales patter and approachable facade.

“Your greed was so great that you asked customers, who had already invested large sums, to cash in Premium Bonds and ISA’s and you got the details of their family and friends to rip them off as well.”

The judge described their sales practices as “threatening and intimidating” with over 600 investors deceived. “Many were retired, some of advancing years and likely to be vulnerable and were targeted without remorse.”

He told Sabin and Ridpath: “You are driven by greed and a thirst for money and both of you have been funding your family lives on the losses of others and their family lives.” 

Mr. Durose told the jury: “The huge commissions are utterly inconsistent with any legitimate investments. Purchasers were not told about the size of the commissions and some were lied to.”
Swiss Miss: Berkeley

Only around 15%-20% of investors money ever went towards buying the rare metals.

“There is no resale market for these metals. They were almost useless as an investment.”

The price of such metals has been falling since 2011, added Mr. Durose. “The investors were blatantly lied to.”

Sabin and Ridpath hid behind a nominee director and nominee shareholder and when later quizzed by police claimed they were no more than business development managers and did not run the company.

Their website developer also quit his involvement in November, 2012, unimpressed by Sabin and Ridpath.

By then their were 1900 customer contracts on the system and dozens of sales staff selling rare metals to investors.

Customer were told their investment would double or triple over three to five years, with Denver Trading’s commission a modest 5%.

One investor was even promised a 1000% return in five years, but he and other customers were paying a five-fold mark-up.

The jury heard £5.6m ended up in a Cypriot bank account controlled by Sabin and Ridpath.

Sabin and Ridpath have been disqualified from running a company for 15 years; Start ten years and Berkeley six years.

Saturday 13 May 2017

Paediatric Doctor Had Sick Child Porn Stash

A specialist childrens doctor, who was caught with over 50,000 sick images of youngsters he had collected online for years, has been locked-up for sixteen months.
Dr. Ediz Ekrem, 31, of Lordship Lane, Dulwich, was employed within the paediatric unit of an unnamed south London Hospital.
He was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court where he was also handed a ten-year Sexual Harm Protection Order.
Dr. Ekrem pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children.
On the October 28, last year police from Operation Bellona, part of the Met's Paedophile Unit, raided Ekrem's home and seized his laptop and a hard drive.
When questioned Ekrem confirmed he had downloaded indecent images of children, but then deleted them.
He was found to be in possession of 187 category A images (the most serious rating), 92 category B images and 51,641 category C images - a total of 51,851 images.
None of the images were accessed whilst Ekrem was at work, nor were they of any of his patients.
The General Medical Council was informed and immediately withdrew Ekrem's licence to practice medicine pending the outcome of the police investigation.
Detective Constable John Daly, the investigating officer from the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "An appropriate sentence has been handed down today.
“Ekrem is a person who was supposed to be trusted and responsible for looking after the most ill and vulnerable in society.
“He has abused that trust by committing this offence. Ekrem was feeding a market for the most appalling and perverted images for a number of years.
"The sharing and making of indecent images of children is an abhorrent crime and one that the Metropolitan Police Service will continue to pursue and bring the perpetrators before the courts."

Friday 12 May 2017

Man Denies Breaking Keira Knightley Restraining Order And Child Porn Charges

A man accused of breaching a restraining order by tweeting Hollywood actress Keira Knightley has denied the charge.

Mark Edmund Revill, 50, appeared in custody at Blackfriars Crown Court, where a trial date for September 4 was set.

He pleaded not guilty to breaching a restraining order imposed on December 1, last year at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court between January 1 and April 1, this year.

Revill, of Glebe Road, Hackney also pleaded not guilty to making indecent photographs of a child at his home address on March 31 and distributing indecent photographs of children on March 9.

He is currently prohibited from contacting the 32 year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star and going within 100 metres of the £3.9m Islington home she shares with ex-Klaxons musician James Righton, 33 and two year-old daughter Edie.

Refill’s lawyer Miss Lisa Wilson told the court: “The fitness to plea form has been completed and he’s been found fit to plea.”

Keira herself may be requested by Revill to give evidence and the prosecution will consider an application for “special measures” if that is the case, allowing the star to address the jury from behind a screen.

Judge John Hillen told shaven-headed Revill, who was wearing a black and silver sports vest, he would be remanded in custody until the trial.

Thursday 11 May 2017

"Privileged" Ex-Public Schoolboy's Tenfold Prescription Fraud

An ex-public schoolboy, who entertained Savoy hotel guests with his piano recitals, was told to take advantage of his “privileged position” to help kick his drink and drug addiction.

Solicitor’s son Piers Robert Fairweather Edmondson, 33, forged his prescription to obtain ten times the amount of an anti-anxiety drug he became dependent on.

The King’s College graduate was raised by his parents — who spend most of the year in the Cayman Islands - at their £2.75m home in Crabbett Wood, Itchingwood Common Road, Oxted.

On Monday he was sentenced at City of Westminster Magistrates Court after spending nearly four weeks in custody.

Fairweather, who quit the Royal College of Music due to his heavy drinking, pleaded guilty to possessing an article for use in fraud, namely a forged prescription at Boots, St. John’s Hill, Battersea on November 21, last year.

He also pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Boots, Victoria two days later and two counts of jumping bail, one of which put him in breach of a conditional discharge.

Fairweather was fined a total of £450, but magistrate Victoria Readman announced that due to time served in custody he would no have to pay a penny.

“Having the two prescriptions on two separate occasions and altered for you to gain more medication than you were entitled to are serious offences,” she told him.

“You are in a very privileged position in that you have a caring and loving family, who support you.

“A lot of young men do not have that support and due to your mother’s assistance there is an opportunity to attend a rehab centre in Derby.

“If you do not want to change yourself then it’s not going to happen. You obviously have enormous talents and are very intelligent so don’t ruin your life.”

Prosecutor Miss Carly Loftus told the court Edmonson initially entered Superdrug in Battersea. “He offered a prescription that had been tampered with for tablets for anxiety.

“A zero had been added to the four to make forty tablets and when this was pointed out he claimed his nephew must have tampered with it.

“He then went to Boots and offered the same prescription, but on this occasion the police were called and he was arrested.”

Edmondson tried a similar scam two days later. “He handed in a prescription, which the pharmacist told him was not legal.

“The defendant said he would return to his doctor friend to complete it, but he had filled-in the details himself.

“He also tried to increase the dose, using a letter from 2013 as proof, but staff received an alert from the NHS warning Edmondson was using forged prescriptions.”

The probation service told the court Edmondson led a “chaotic lifestyle” and had relapsed after recently spending five weeks in a rural rehab centre in Scotland.

He is on a methadone prescription for recovering heroin addicts and also developed a dependence on his anti-epilepsy drug pregabalin. 

Edmondson has been on Employment Support Allowance and his parents also helped pay for various accommodation.

His lawyer Miss Stephanie Panchkowry told the court: “The offences stem from his drug abuse.

“He is a very gifted man and read medicine at King’s College before switching to philosophy and graduating with a 2:1.

“He also played piano in the main foyer of the Savoy.

“He was suffering at the time of the offences and was drinking and using drugs.”  

His father, James Fairweather Edmondson, is a retired solicitor, who specialised in trusts and wills and is head of the Halecat Charitable Trust, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Piers attended £35,000-a year The King’s School, Canterbury, whose alumni include Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery; actor Orlando Bloom; former England cricket captain David Gower and TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson. 

Wednesday 10 May 2017

GUILTY: Dad Convicted Of Thumping Son During Drunken Row After 'Boro's Play-Off Loss

Guilty: Mark McKenna Sr.
A father, who decked his teenage son during a drunken family row near Wembley stadium after enduring Middlesbrough FC’s play-off final defeat two seasons ago, has been convicted.

Mark McKenna ,45, was seen by police punching Mark McKenna Jr., 18, to the ground, leaving the youngster spitting blood, Harrow Crown Court heard.

The jury convicted him of inflicting grievous bodily harm on his son and he was bailed to June 9 for a pre-sentence report.

He was found not guilty of the more serious charge of causing GBH, with intent, outside a pub on May 25, 2015.

McKenna Sr., of Matford Avenue, Middlesbrough claimed he was the peace maker during the family’s post-match drinking session and was leading his son away.

Doctors later discovered McKenna Jr’s jaw was fractured in two placed, but it may have already broken after a weekend of brawling with family members and a pre-trip fight.

The family had travelled to London the day before, but their team were defeated 2-0 by Norwich City, who were promoted to the Premier League.

Mark McKenna Jr.
McKenna Sr. told police he had nine beers that day and intervened outside a pub when his son attacked his cousin Sam just before midnight.

He says his son then turned on him and McKenna Sr.’s father, Derek, 65, had to step in. “He attacked me and his grandad had to drag him off.

“I think I hit him back for hitting me, the top of his head, it was not hard. I was angry for him attacking me, there was no need for it.”

McKenna Sr. insists this blow could not have fractured his son’s jaw because it was aimed at the top of his head and didn’t knock him over.

Earlier McKenna Jr. reluctantly gave evidence and confirmed he had a fight in Middlesbrough on the eve of the trip that left his face swollen.

He had five or six cans of beer before the match and was angry with Sam. “He was winding me up and intimidating me, saying he was going to boot some respect into me.”

McKenna Jr. has three fights with Sam on the matchday, decking him twice and wanted to continue brawling when his father split them up.

He admitted punching his father, almost knocking him over, and “squaring up” as his dad tried to lead him away.

“I wanted him to get out of the way to get to Sam,” McKenna Jr. told the jury, admitting he was ready to strike his father again.

A passing police officer watched the confrontation and witnessed McKenna Sr. decking his son with a single blow.

He was taken to Northwick Park Hospital for treatment to a double jaw fracture.

Tuesday 9 May 2017

Dad Decks Son After Middlesbrough FC's Play-Off Loss

Punch: Mark McKenna Sr.
A father broke his teenage son’s jaw in two places during a drunken family row near Wembley stadium after enduring Middlesbrough FC’s play-off final defeat two seasons ago, a court heard.

Mark McKenna ,45, was seen by police punching Mark McKenna Jr., 18, to the ground, leaving the youngster spitting blood, Harrow Crown Court was told last week.

However, McKenna Sr., of Matford Avenue, Middlesbrough claims his son’s jaw was probably already broken after a weekend of brawling with family members.

He has pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, with intent, plus a lesser alternative charge in High Road, Wembley on May 25, 2015.

The family had travelled to London the day before, but their team were defeated 2-0 by Norwich City, who were promoted to the Premier League.

McKenna Sr. told police he had nine beers that day and intervened outside a pub when his son attacked his cousin Sam just before midnight.

He says his son then turned on him and McKenna Sr.’s father, Derek, 65, had to step in. “He attacked me and his grandad had to drag him off.

Jaw Break: Mark McKenna Jr.
“I think I hit him back for hitting me, the top of his head, it was not hard. I was angry for him attacking me, there was no need for it.

“He’s got anger issues. I was pissed off at him. He spoiled it for all of us.”

Earlier McKenna Jr. reluctantly gave evidence and confirmed he had a fight in Middlesbrough on the eve of the trip that left his face swollen.

He had five or six cans of beer before the match and was angry with Sam. “He was winding me up and intimidating me, saying he was going to boot some respect into me.”

McKenna Jr. has three fights with Sam on the matchday, decking him twice and wanted to continue brawling when his father split them up.

He admitted punching his father, almost knocking him over, and “squaring up” as his dad tried to lead him away.

“I wanted him to get out of the way to get to Sam,” McKenna Jr. told the jury, admitting he was ready to strike his father again.

A passing police officer watched the confrontation and witnessed McKenna Sr. decking his son with a single blow.

He was taken to Northwick Park Hospital for treatment to a double jaw fracture.


Monday 8 May 2017

West Ham Fan Tweeted "Stick Your Head In The Oven" To Jewish Holocaust Survivor After Spurs Defeat


'Oven' Tweet: Harding
A drunken West Ham United football fan tweeted the founder of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust: “Stick your head in the oven like the jew you are,” following a defeat to Spurs.

Mark Harding, 48, communicated the sick tweet to 72 year-old Hungarian-born survivor Agnes Grunwald-Spier, who left “upset” and “offended.”

She survived the Nazi’s Budapest Ghetto, where she was sent with her mother in November, 1944, moving to the UK three years later after the murder of her father in Auschwitz.

She is an MBE and was on the Board of Deputies of British Jews for fifteen years and has an MA in Holocaust Studies from Sheffield University.

Harding, of Charlotte Street, Walsall pleaded guilty to sending a tweet of an indecent or offensive nature for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety on November 19, last year.

Last week he was sentenced to eighteen weeks imprisonment, suspended for twelve months and ordered to complete 60 hours community service work.

He also followed up with a secondary tweet to the mother-of-three of: “Hope you, your wife (corr) and kids die in a freak car accident.”

Survivor: Agnes Meeting Charles & Camilla 
Prosecutor Miss Stella Waata told Hendon Magistrates Court: “This is religiously or racially-aggravated and came from the twitter account of ‘Hammer68’ that belongs to Mr. Harding.

“She is a jew and found the tweet to be anti-semitic. She was upset and offended.

“She was a baby in Hungary during the holocaust, her family suffered in the holocaust. Her father was killed Auschwitz, he was probably gassed.

“She does not understand how anyone can write such things and wants Mr. Harding to know how offensive it is to a jewish person.”

Harding denies targeting Mrs Grunwald-Spier, claiming he got caught up in post-match online “banter” with Tottenham Hotspur football fans after they beat his team 3-2.

The north London club is well-known for having a large contingent of jewish supporters.

Fork-lift driver Harding gave himself up to police and told them he had consumed six pints while watching the match in a pub near his mother’s Evesham home.

“He was upset his team had lost and when he returned to his mother’s home continued drinking,” explained Ms Waata.

“He said he got involved in banter with a lot of Tottenham fans, who were abusive to him and he said it was football banter and did not mean any offence.

“He said he did not remember sending the tweet.”

Harding’s lawyer Ms Sarj Patel told the court: “He’s now lost his good character and it is his first ever time in court and he has found it quite distressing and blames himself for that.

“He is unfortunately wrapped up in football culture and is a West Ham supporter.

“He was quite upset West Ham had lost, he follows them religiously and took to twitter and all the banter started.

“He was abused by numerous people, Tottenham fans, and got caught up in it and gave as good as he got.

“This was not an attack on this person, he did not know who that person was.

“It was a very, very silly comment he tells me. It was more reckless than with any intent and he is totally ashamed by this.

“He want to apologise to this lady through me. It was not a direct attack on her, but football banter that got out of control.”

Magistrate Mr. Harvey Simons told Harding: “The nature of the message was particularly hurtful and particularly obnoxious, causing offence to the victim and potentially to other followers and is aggravated by the racial element.”

Harding was also ordered to pay £85 costs, a £115 victim surcharge and £150 compensation to Mrs Grunwald-Spier.

Sunday 7 May 2017

Rock Chick Groped At Live Venue

A young student, who groped a woman at a popular live rock venue, has been fined.

Nathan Treveil, 22, of Sinclair Road, Hartlepool attended Camden Underworld in north London last year.

He was charged with sexually assaulting the woman by touching her without consent on November 6.

Treveil did not fight the case and pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court.

He was fined £650 and ordered to pay the victim £150 compensation, plus an additional victim surcharge of £65.

Saturday 6 May 2017

Local Sex Pest Banned From ASDA

Banned: ASDA, Belvedere
A sex pest had been banned from his local branch of ASDA after groping a woman in the store.

Chris Mulry, 37, of Regents Square, Belvedere, Kent fought the case throughout, but was convicted after a trial.

He was charged with sexual assault on a female on September 16, last year at ASDA, Station Road, Belvedere by intentional touching when she did not consent.

Mulry was convicted at Bexley Magistrates Court.

He was placed on a twelve-months probation and ordered to complete 120 hours community service.

Mulry must also comply with a two-year restraining order, which prohibits him going to the store, and pay £500 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Friday 5 May 2017

999 Caller Nicked For Racist Slurs

A 999 emergency caller, accused of using the racist term “black nigger” when talking to the female handler at the other end of the line, has been fined.

Sean Hayes, 23, of Mermaid Tower, Abinger Grove, Deptford pleaded guilty when he appeared at Bromley Magistrates Court.

He was charged with one count of racially or religiously aggravated harassment on February 15 by repeatedly using the term while speaking to the 999 handler.

Hayes was fined £120, with £85 costs and ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge.

Thursday 4 May 2017

NOT GUILTY: Harrods Style Advisor Cleared Of Expressing Macabre Sense Of Humour

Innocent: Marconi
A young Harrods style advisor, accused of harassing a female Louis Vuitton colleague with macabre ‘throat slitting’ humour and dark images has been cleared.

Giacomo Marcolin, 21, worked in the Knightsbridge department store alongside Tabitha Gray, who claimed he enjoyed boasting about wanting to kill people.

Italian Marcolin, of The Hale, Tottenham always insisted his comments were in fun and a shoe murder clip was from a popular movie. 

He was found not guilty of the harassment between July 1 and September 27, last year of Tabitha Elise Gray by repeated contact, making threats to kill others and her and showing her violent video clips.

He is now a sales consultant and style advisor at Liberty, having previously worked for luxury brand Kurt Geiger.

He claims he was innocently quoting lines from U.S. tv show ‘American Horror Stories’ and the shoe murder clip was from horror movie ‘True Blood’.

“On the first day I met him I sensed there was something different. He’s an interesting character, not like anyone I’ve met before,” Ms Gray told Hammersmith Magistrates Court last week.

Tabitha leaving court
“We were in the back of house at Louis Vuitton and he expressed he wanted to commit the crime of killing people.

“He knew that I was someone who was frightened easily and took advantage of that. He said he would slit my throat last so he could see my reaction.”

She told the court Marcolin also showed her a violent horror movie clip on the department’s computer. “It was someone being beaten with a heel and that made me uncomfortable and he knew it made me uncomfortable.

“I left the stock room and from that moment onwards we did not remain the friends we were prior to that.

“He showed me a photo on his phone he had taken of a dead fox in the road. He showed no remorse he was enjoying he had this dead fox to show people.

“I believe he enjoyed it. It was something he liked looking at.”

She said she reported him to management after he told her: “You will be” when she said sorry for stepping on his foot.

“He said: ‘It’s not a threat, it’s a promise,’ and that was the final straw.”

Prosecutor Mr. Robert Simpson told the court: “The conduct is making various threatening comments about slitting peoples throats and showing two clips.

“One was of a fox lying dead in the road and the other was a girl being beaten to death with a shoe.” 

In her statement to police Ms Gray reported Marcolin saying: “I would like to kill everyone.”

“He was not saying it as a joke,” she told the court. “I was shocked that he would say that.”

After reporting Marcolin he was suspended and she told police: “I have not been able to sleep well since he was suspended in case he wanted to hurt me.”

She told the magistrates: “I was genuinely worried he would come back with a vengeance. That he would have more anger.

“I started using different doors at Harrods, coming and going from work. I was on high alert.”

Ms Gray’s Louis Vuitton colleague Asim Shuja told the court he overheard Marcolin chatting to her. “It was along the lines of Giacomo committing mass murder, which got my attention.

“It was really uncomfortable for me to hear someone talking like this. I was shocked and Tabitha was very shocked as well.”

Marcolin told the court he accidentally revealed the dead fox image when showing Ms Gray pictures of his new studio flat and was not seriously making death threats.

“I said it not in a way I meant it. I have not killed anyone up to now and see no reason why I should.

“She never gave any sign of her feeling harassed. She did not seem shocked or anything, I thought she understood I was joking.”

He showed her the shoe clip because the murder weapon was similar to footwear they sold at Harrods, said Marcolin and he joked about Tabitha doing the same thing to her ex-boyfriend’s new girl.

“Her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend was on Italian Big Brother and she obviously wasn’t over it. 

“The girl that killed the other girl is blond and I said: ‘Imagine you doing that to her.’

“I don’t spend my time talking about killing people or dead people,” he insisted.

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Stalker Arrived For Hotel Date With Selfridges Beauty Armed With Gun And Knife

A stalker arrived for a hotel internet date with a female Selfridges employee he pursued online armed with a fake handgun and knife.

Suhayl Ali, 28, was met by police officers, who searched and arrested him, after the terrified victim tipped-off police about the meet up.

He had arrived at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Beaconsfield expecting to meet the young woman, who he had bombarded with provocative email messages, despite her demands to stop.

Ali, of Headley Way, Headington, Oxford pleaded guilty to stalking the woman by continuously emailing her between November 20 and December 9, last year.

He also admitted possessing an imitation firearm and the knife in a public place on December 9.

Ms Rasouli reported Ali at Uxbridge Police Station after receiving his unsolicited messages, which caused her “huge concern.”

He also tried to meet her face-to-face by visiting the Oxford Street department store.

Hillingdon CID say they identified Ali as a “potential risk” and the Borough Tasking Unit encouraged Ms Rasouli to agree to the date so they could arrest him.

At Uxbridge Magistrates Court Ali was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment, suspended for twelve months and ordered to complete 160 hours community service work for stalking Ms Rasouli, plus up to twenty-five days of rehab.

He was fined £300 for possessing the firearm and £500 for the knife and was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

Ali was also made subject to an indefinite restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting the victim and visiting Selfridges.

Tuesday 2 May 2017

Girlfriend Admits Stalking Ex After Painful Split

A hair stylist, who endured a painful break-up with her boyfriend, has been fined for stalking him by showing up at his workplace and home city.

Daniela Lewis, 28, of Oakways, Greenwich also continuously phoned and texted Tom Rawsthorn, who conceded to police he probably “led her on.”


She pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates Court to stalking Tom between January 1 and April 8, but says in reality her behaviour was restricted to the months of March and April.


Prosecutor Miss Roz Wordell told the court: “They were in a relationship that came to and end and the complainant did not want to see her anymore and it appears she did not take no for an answer.”


They met when working together in August, 2014 and were a couple in 2015.


“She said she didn't want to be with him if he didn't love her and he said he did not love her.”


When travelling to his home city of Lincoln Lewis phoned Tom and then turned up herself.


In April, last year they agreed to be just good friends, but then got back together, the court heard.


“There were a lot of arguments and then they split up again,” explained Miss Wordell. “He said he did not want a relationship, but it fell on deaf ears although he admits he led her on.


“She turned up unannounced at his workplace and home and when he told her to go away it ended up in an argument.”


Eventually Tom reported her at Wimbledon Police Station.


“Over the phone he told her to stop, but she refused to talk to the police and began crying on the phone and then went to the police station while Mr. Rawsthorn was there.


The court heard in January the couple enjoyed a nine-day holiday in Japan and were still intimate in the middle of February.


Lewis's lawyer told the court she needed “emotional support” at the time and has made no contact with her ex since she was arrested and charged.


She spent three days in police custody before being bailed by magistrates during her fist court appearance.


Lewis was fined £200, with £85 costs and ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge.