High Tech Fraudster Blasted Tube Passengers With Spam Texts

A high-tech fraudster, who used an electronic SMS blaster stored in a large suitcase to spam rush hour commuters with fraudulent text messages, has been jailed.

Kong Ji Chen, 31, received twenty-four weeks imprisonment for bombarding tube train passengers with spam text messages as they travelled on the busy Victoria Line.

Inner London Crown Court heard on Tuesday, July 1 at approximately 5.30pm a passenger received a spam text message.

The text claimed to be from Parcel Mail and invited the reader to click on a link to update their details in order to receive a package. 

Users who did so would then be asked to enter in their personal details.

The passenger was familiar with SMS blasters and grew suspicious of Chen when he noticed him loitering with a large suitcase, not getting on any trains or moving on from the platform.

Local officers were alerted and arrived at Victoria Underground station, where Chen was found sitting on a bench next to a large green suitcase. 

Chen claimed he was waiting for a friend, and claimed the suitcase had been given to him earlier in the day by another man.

Officers searched the suitcase and upon opening it saw a portable battery attached to an electrical unit with a green flashing light and a black antenna. 

Chen was then immediately arrested and taken into custody.

A technical security adviser reported that there were 165 reports to mobile phone carriers of the same spam text message coming from the same number between 2.38pm and 10.37pm on July 1.

Investigating officer DC Adrienne Curzon said: "I'm very pleased with the result in this case. Chen targeted potentially thousands of commuters, attempting to harvest their data.

“The conviction was achieved thanks to the close work our officers undertook with mobile network operators including BT, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone as well as the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom.

"Thanks to the vigilance of one member of the public, our officers were able to act and prevent more people from being targeted and becoming victims of Chen's fraudulent endeavour.”

City Petrol Broker's Road Rage Race Rant

A City oil and petrol broker shouted: “You f***ing n*****,” at a black driver, who undertook her in the bus lane at a busy roundabout, court heard.

Letizia Bonuglia, 45, who is employed in the heart of the Square Mile as a Gasoline Med Broker - specialising in the Mediterranean market - then repeated the racial slur when challenged.

Fortunately, her words were captured on the victim’s dash cam and Bonuglia - who lives in a £900,000 apartment in Cambridge Mansions, near Battersea Park - was arrested and charged.

At Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court she pleaded guilty to one count of racially aggravated harassment in York Road, Wandsworth on June 23.

Prosecutor Nathan Fuller told the court there was a line of traffic, including Bonuglia, approaching Wandsworth roundabout when victim Carlos Wilson used the bus line to drive past on the inside.

“He was undertaking a number of vehicles, including this defendant, and at the lights they came to a stop and there was a disagreement between the two of them.

“He said he was allowed to drive down the inside and she called the victim a ‘f***ing n*****,’ and when he asked her if that is what she said, she repeated the words: ‘Yes. You’re a n*****.’

“Both of them called the police and officers describe this defendant as ‘distressed and crying’.

“She said the other driver had tried to crash into her, but this is not true.”

Bench Chairman Gilles Casse announced: “This has been described as a form of road rage and a ten to thirty second burst of anger as a result of someone driving in the bus lane and then attempting to cut across.”

He told Bonuglia, who attended Sapienza University, Rome: “We are going to fine you. We have heard what you earn and give you credit for your guilty plea.

“We will be uplifting the fine due to the racial element.”

Bonuglia was fined £2,800, with £85 costs and ordered to pay a £1,120 victim surcharge. 

Another Speeding Conviction For 'Top Gear' Producer

Andy Wilman with classic Top Gear line-up

Porsche-driving ‘Top Gear’ producer Andy Wilman has clocked up yet another speeding offence after being caught on camera travelling at 30mph in a 20mph zone.

The 63 year-old did not appear at Lavender Hill Magistrates Court, where he received three penalty points and was fined £666, with £130 costs and ordered to pay a £266 victim surcharge.

He was executive producer of the BBC show between 2002 and 2015 before leaving with old school pal Jeremy Clarkson to create spin-off ‘The Grand Tour’, broadcast on Amazon Prime.

Wilman, who lives in a £6m house in Lyford Road, Wandsworth Common pleaded guilty to driving his grey 2.9 litre Porsche Macan in excess of the 20mph limit on the A41 Finchley Road, Hampstead, near the junction with Parsifal Road on April 21.

At the same court in May he received a six-month disqualification for his fourth speeding conviction in three years, meaning the latest three points were imposed a few days after getting his licence back.

Prosecutor Kari Williams told the court: “It was 4.46pm and a speed camera recorded the driver at 30mph in  a twenty.

“Mr Wilman was disqualified in May, this year as a totter and the licence does not currently have any live points.”

Bench Chairwoman Wendy Preston announced: “He was disqualified in May and this offence pre-dates it.

“In the case of Mr Wilman his licence will be endorsed with three penalty points and will be fined.

“We are taking into account his guilty plea. It would have been a thousands pounds, but we are taking into account the plea.”

Wilman’s solicitors wrote to the court, indicating he would be admitting the offence.

Wilman became the unofficial ‘fourth member’ of the classic Top Gear line-up of Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond is now working on Clarkson’s Farm in the Cotswolds.

He was educated at £52,000-a year Repton School, Derbyshire - also attended by Clarkson - and has also produced ‘Clarkson’s Farm’.

Working extensively with his school chum Wilman has also produced ‘Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld’; ‘Jeremy Clarkson’s Extreme Machines’; ‘Jeremy Clarkson: Meet the Neighbours’ and ‘Jeremy Clarkson: The Greatest Raid of All Time’.

BAFTA-nominated Wilman, an £800,000 a year broadcasting executive was given twenty-eight days to pay.

Bagged!: Square Mile Pub Thieves Captured

Thieves: Bourhar (L) Kraifa (R)

Two more foreign thieves, who targeted City workers enjoying a drink, have been locked-up for stealing a woman's bag.

The pair struck in the heart of the Square Mile at the The Magpie pub, New Street, near Liverpool Street station.

Hecham Bourhar, 29, and Mohammed Kraifa, 34, acted together to steal the woman's bag that was lying on the floor underneath a table.

Bourhar entered the City of London despite being subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order, banning him from the Square Mile for previous offending.

The dishonest duo, both of St. Georges Court, Wood Street, Walthamstow were sentenced for theft of the bag on Tuesday, November 11.

On that evening they were captured on CCTV taking the bag, which contained a LENOVO laptop computer, headphones with microphone, clothing, plus other items worth £2,000.

They each received eighteen weeks imprisonment, but Bourhar will not serve any extra time for breaching his Criminal Behaviour Order as his eight-week sentence for that offence will run concurrently.

Kraifa hooked his foot inside the strap of the bag, dragging it out from underneath the table while the nearby victim was completely unaware.

Bourhar then swiftly picked up the bag and the pair exited the premises.

Sergeant James Wood, of the Proactive Acquisitive Crime Team at the City of London Police, said: “By using all our resources in tracking down bag thieves, we have already made significant arrests which have led to a number of successful prosecutions. 

“This is another great result, with two bag thieves behind bars.

“Our dedicated officers are working tirelessly to identify and apprehend individuals who target those who live, work and visit the Square Mile.”

Two-Timing Boyfriend Sentenced For Breaking Partner's Nose

Punch: Heaven-Lee Roach

A two-timing love rat, who punched his live-in girlfriend while she was face timing the ‘other woman’ - breaking her nose in two places - has been sentenced.

Heaven-Lee Roach, 35, met the second woman on Tinder and has always insisted he was using lawful self-defence when his girlfriend punched him in the chest during a row.

The long-running case finally concluded at Inner London Crown Court last week, where Roach stood two jury trials.

Roach, of Doulton House, Lambeth Walk, Lambeth received a twelve-month community order, which includes 250 hours community service.

Recorder Natasha Peter also ordered him to pay £3,000 compensation to victim Lici Parra in £300 monthly instalments.

Roach was convicted of inflicting actual bodily harm on operations assistant Ms Parra at her Saperton Walk home, Lambeth on November 8, 2021.

During the first trial prosecutor Maria Culling told the jury Roach’s reaction to being struck was excessive and could not be considered lawful self-defence.

“The Crown say he didn’t need to use self-defence at all. A big adult man delivering a blow with a clenched fist is not proportionate.”

Giving evidence from behind a screen Ms Parra told the trial she dated Roach for two years after meeting him on social media.

“We were in a tricky point because a week before I discovered he was on Tinder.”

Girlfriend: Lici Parra

She received no replies to her texts to Roach, who later told the court he was at the cinema with his second girlfriend and his phone was in ‘Airplane Mode’.

Ms Parra quickly became concerned Roach was not responding. “He would usually say he was suicidal and I started to have anxiety at work.”

She went to an old address of his and an older woman answered the door. “She introduced herself as the mother of his girlfriend and I was shocked, it was not what I expected.

“The woman explained that he was with her daughter and was not answering the messages because he was with her.

“I did not want to be lied to anymore. I wanted the truth.”

She met up with Roach near her flat shortly afterwards. “He said he was low and felt like killing himself and that is why he was not answering the messages.

“He was getting aggressive and removed his rings because he wanted to punch something, he said and did not want to damage his rings,” explained Ms Parra.

She phoned the second woman via a video call and told Roach: “Look who I am speaking with.”

“I felt very sad and upset and that he needed to leave my home and that he was a liar,’ she told the jury. “The other woman broke down and started to cry.

“I said he was a fraud, but he was just arrogant and cold and I tried to spit, but nothing came out of my mouth and he laughed and said: ‘It’s just air.’

“I pushed him away because he was getting very close and he came closer very aggressively.”

The pair returned to Ms Parra’s home. “We went upstairs and he was laughing at me and I think I pushed him again.

“He straight away punched me with his fist towards my nose, two or three times.

“I remember that I was very scared and that I needed to run away and I just started bleeding straight away.

“His eyes were empty, he was a monster.”

She said Roach snapped: “Don’t punch me,” before knocking her onto the bed and following up with a second blow.

“All the time the other woman was on my phone and my nose would not stop bleeding,” added Ms Parra.

Roach told the jury: “I was in a relationship with both women at the same time.”

Her met the second woman on Tinder and claimed he was attempting to break-up with her that day.”

The prosecutor told the court Roach was questioned by the police. “He claims she became aggressive and he had to use self-defence.”

Liberty X Singer Jessica Pietersen Beats Speeding Charge

Jessica & Kevin Pietersen

Liberty X singer Jessica Pietersen beat a speeding charge after hiring celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman - known as ‘Mr Loophole’.

The 45 year-old star, who is married to former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, 45, did not appear at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, where the case was dropped.

The mother-of-two, who lives in a £4.5m six-bedroom detached home on private Shrubbs Hill Lane, Sunningdale, Ascot had always fought the charge.

She was accused of driving her black three-litre diesel Land Rover in excess of the 20mph speed limit on the A4 Cromwell Road, near the junction with Kenway Road, Earl’s Court on November 21, last year.

The prosecution had alleged the Preston-born star was caught on a speed camera travelling at 28mph in the 20mph zone in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

Mr Freeman did not appear today, but his firm Freeman’s was instructed by Pietersen, who was represented by barrister Natalie Bird.

Prosecutor Mr John Shepherd told the court: “We will be offering no evidence for various technical reasons.”

“I have spoken to a Crown Prosecution Service manager and my instructions are to offer no evidence in relation to Mrs Pietersen and for the matter to be dismissed and that is all I have to say.”

Ms Bird also declined to explain why the case was dropped and applied for defence costs on behalf of the absent Pietersen.

“She has been paying privately for representation so there is an application for a defence sots order.”

Liberty X was formed when finishing runner-up to Hear’Say in 2001’s ‘Popstars’ reality show.

The group signed a multi-million pound record deal with Richard Branson’s V2 Records, releasing three albums seven Top 10 singles, including number one hit ‘Just a Little.’

In 2005 she appeared in BBC’s ’Strictly Ice Dancing’  and in 2009 ‘Dancing on Ice’.

Pietersen continues to perform as a Liberty X trio with Michelle Heaton and Kelli Young

On December 29, 2007 she married England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, 45,

She has two children, Dylan Blake, 15, and Rosie, 9.

Schoolteacher Recorded Naked Males At Local Gym

A disgraced schoolteacher, who tried to record shower users at his local gym, destroyed his career and is now working as a postman, a court heard.

English teacher and former Deputy Head of House at Berkshire’s Sandhurst School, Hein Dinkelmann, 36, was arrested at work and has not been back since.

The University of Johannesburg graduate, of The Courtyard, Southwell Park Road, Camberley, Surrey fought the charges for over three years, but was eventually convicted by a jury.

He was found guilty by a Chichester Crown Court jury of two counts of attempted voyeurism on March 15 and April 8, 2022 at the Camberley gym.

Last Friday, Recorder David Brock told him at Brighton Law Courts: “At your local gym you twice attempted to take photo or video footage, using your phone of two males, a man and a fifteen year-old boy.

“You placed your phone through the gap in the partition at the bottom of the shower and were seen on both occasions, but managed to get away.

“CCTV was examined and you were identified via the membership card you swiped in with.”

After his arrest Surrey Police examined Dinkelmann’s phone and found further images of unidentified naked males in showers.

Dinkelmann had also recorded himself in the same gym changing rooms indecently exposing himself.

“Your argument that it was somebody else was rejected by the jury,” Recorder Brock told the first-time offender.

“On both occasions you were seen, but got away.”

Recorder Brock said before sentencing Dinkelmann: “He should not have brought this to trial at all. 

“He is riddled with guilt, it was overwhelming, it was an overwhelming case.

“He is a postman now isn’t het he? He obviously has got some interest in taking photos of men in showers.”

Prosecutor Alice Holloway told the court Dinkelmann only attended the gym for ten to fifteen minutes on both occasions and made a deliberate attempt to record the showering victims.

“I was arrested at school,” Dinkelmann told the court, adding he has not returned to Sandhurst since.

Sandhurst is a coeducational school for both boys and girls aged eleven to eighteen years-old.

“I am not going to send you into custody,” Recorder Brock told him, placing Dinkelmann on a twelve-month Community Order, which includes 20 days of rehabilitation.

He ordered him to pay £2,000 costs a £95 victim surcharge and made him subject to a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which prohibits him taking any recording device into any gym or leisure centre.

“If you breach that order you will go to prison.”