London Underground Robber Sentenced

A London Underground robber, whose violent gang targeted lone passengers during an eleven-day spree, has been locked-up for a short period of time.

Adel Kerari, 27, brought terror to law-abiding passengers on the tube train network and will be back on the streets early next year.

At Inner London Crown Court Kerari, of Lisgar Terrace, West Kensington received two years and eight months imprisonment and will almost certainly only serve half that sentence.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of robbery and one count of fraud committed in June, 2023 with several other young men.

Over the course of those 11 days, the group committed or attempted to commit several robberies, targeting people at Underground stations including Holborn, Chancery Lane, Leicester Square, Russell Square, Notting Hill, Shepherd's Bush, Piccadilly Circus, and Leyton.

The group resorted to violence or the threat of violence to rob commuters, going from station to station targeting lone travellers.

The first incident in the series was on June 1, when a woman was cornered by the group on a train to Holborn. 

When she managed to leave the train, she was followed toward the escalator and through the station before being pushed from behind, punched in the face, and robbed of her mobile phone and headphones. The group then fled the station.

On a separate night the group targeted two people in just 10 minutes, robbing someone of their phone and wallet at Leicester Square before travelling on the train to Russell Square and robbing a second person of their phone.

On June 11, a man was robbed at Leyton Underground station having been pushed to the ground and attacked. 

The group made off with the man's phone and wallet, and only hours later the man's bank card was used at an off licence by Kerari and others.

Kerari was identified by officers in 2023, however he was discovered to be out of the country.

Upon his return to the UK in 2025, officers went to an address he was staying at in West London, and he was arrested on September 4, last year.

For their part in the robberies, Kerari's co-conspirators were sentenced in 2023 and 2024 to a combined total of over 10 years' imprisonment.

Detective Sergeant Tony Gittins, investigating officer in the case, said: “Criminals like Kerari should know that we’ll make sure they face justice for the crimes they inflict on members of the public. 

“Tackling robbery on the London Underground is a top priority for us, and we're working around the clock to catch offenders and ensure they have their day in court.

“Kerari and the rest of the cowardly group worked together to intimidate and target passengers across London for their own benefit. 

“The rail network is covered by extensive CCTV, which we successfully used to prove that they were behind this eleven-day crime spree.

“Our uniformed and plain-clothes teams patrol the rail network every day to deter robbery and keep passengers safe. 

“Fortunately, incidents like this are rare, but we take every report of robbery extremely seriously and will continue to come down hard on those who use the railway network for criminal gain.

“If a robbery has just happened, always dial 999 or speak to an officer or a member of staff – our officers can then quickly deploy to your location and begin immediate enquiries to trace the culprits.”

Real Housewives Star Banned For Speeding In Bentley

Real Housewives of London star Amanda Cronin was banned from the roads today after she was caught speeding in her new £250,000 Bentley.

The 57 year-old ex model turned skincare entrepreneur - famously known for having the ‘longest legs in Belgravia’ - will be using them more now she has lost her licence for six months.

She appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court, where she argued caring for her 85 year-old Hampshire-based mother Janet meant keeping her licence was vital, but the court was not swayed.

Cronin, of Grosvenor Gardens Mews North, Belgravia, pleaded guilty to driving her blue 4.0 litre hybrid electric twin-turbocharged V8 Bentley Continental GT in excess of the 20mph limit.

The court heard it was 6.20pm on May 26 last year when a speed camera caught her travelling at 24mph along the A4 Cromwell Road, near the junction with Lexham Gardens, South Kensington.

She received three penalty points for the offence, which took her to a total of twelve - triggering an automatic six-month ban under totting rules.

The wealthy divorcee already had nine points on her licence for speeding offences in 30mph zones on October 10, 2023; August 21, 2024 and November 3, 2024.

The former model, turned skincare entrepreneur was also fined £146, with £130 costs and ordered to pay a £58 victim surcharge.

Wearing a white cashmere-style coat; Prince of Wales check trousers and tan-coloured high-heel boots Cronin told the magistrates her driving licence was vital to run her poorly mother to important medical appointments.

“She is still living on her own and I am very close to my mother and spend as much time as I can with her when I am not working,” Cronin - the former girlfriend of Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley told the court.

“She is a huge part of my life and I am a huge part of her life and she is trying to live independently.”

Her mother has been a widow for twenty years and Cronin’s Leatherhead-based sister does not drive and her freelance cameraman brother lives in Brixton with his own family commitments.

“I have a beauty company and a clinic and a television show as well,” explained Cronin, who is one of six glamorous women who star in the reality show, which began streaming on Hayu last year.

“She has a history of cervical cancer, which is in remission, has two prosthetic lenses on her eyes and a degenerative back condition and osteoporosis.

“She is in a lot of pain and has declined quite rapidly the last two years,” said Cronin of her mother.”

Living in the Hampshire village of Stubbington means there are regular medical appointments in Southampton; Portsmouth and Havant.

“I drive to get to her. I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed that I am here today in front of you.

“My mother will have to lean on me and she is a stubborn woman and may not get the care and medical support she needs if I do not have my car.

“It is going to be stressful. She is not going to accept going in a taxi and going to appointments in the rush hour

“It will be very, very stressful for her to get around by taxi even with me and I feel she will not want to lean on me as much during the driving ban period. That is my greatest fear.

“If it was up to me I would have my mother live with me. We have had that conversation, but she says she is not ready.”

Cronin told the court her mother recently had double hip surgery and fell on wet leaves in her garden, injuring her face and wrist.

“There has been a decline in her mobility and stability and in the last few months it seems to be falling off a cliff.

“Her vertigo has been going on for ten years now and the attacks can be quite long. She has chest infections post-covid and doers not have any neighbours to help.”

However, bench Chairwoman Jo Caseby announced the “high bar” of showing “exceptional hardship” regarding a driving disqualification had not been met.

“We need to make it clear these courts do not often change course. Exceptional hardship is a high bar and the hardship has to be exceptional.

“We have a lot of sympathy for your mother and you are clearly a considerate daughter, but there are solutions to these things.

“You are going to have to put together other arrangements for six moths because you are going to be disqualified from driving.”

LBC's Iain Dale Banned For Speeding.....Again

Award-winning radio presenter and well-known petrolhead Iain Dale has been banned from driving again after clocking-up four new speeding offences.

The 63 year-old LBC broadcaster and author claimed a disqualification would impact the free motivational speeches he delivers to schoolchildren, but this did not sway the magistrates.

Cambridge-born Dale, of Priory Farm, Romford Road, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court yesterday, where he was banned for six months.

He admitted exceeding the 30mph limit on the A22 Eastbourne Road, Halland, East Sussex on September 5, last year when he was caught travelling at 43mph, approximately four miles from the £1.5m detached farmhouse he shares with husband John Simmons.

The court heard Dale - who once owned the late Princess of Wales’ Gomera Pearl racing green Audi Cabriolet convertible - already had three speeding offences on his driving licence.

These were committed on November 19, 2022; July 22, 2023 and July 13, last year and he received three penalty points for each offence.

Today’s four penalty points triggered the six-month automatic disqualification under the totting rules.

Dressed in a dark blue suit, light blue shirt and multi-coloured spotted tie  Dale was also fined £666, with £130 costs and ordered to pay a £266 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Emily Begley told the court it was 7.33pm when Dale’s black electric Audi was caught exceeding the speed limit.

In 2012 Dale received a six-month driving ban for four speeding offences and also wrote about his experiences attending a speed awareness course when caught breaking the 30mph limit in Brixton at 3.00am on another occasion.

Last year he was cleared of speeding on the A20 dual carriageway after instructing ‘Mr Loophole’ Nick Freeman’s law firm.

He once confessed to previously selling an F-type Jaguar due to the temptation to drive fast. “I started picking up speeding tickets like it was going out of fashion.”

Asking not to be disqualified on the grounds that a ban would cause ‘exceptional hardship’ Dale told the hearing: “My day job is a radio presenter, but I also speak at political meetings, literary festivals and most importantly schools.

“I have never thought of myself as a motivational speaker, but I get a lot of feedback from schools, where I talk about politics and the media.

“I have a letter from the headteacher of a school in Ilford that after one of my speeches a pupil felt such an impact she wanted to change her career plans to do what I do.

“The Head of Media at the University of Gloucester said that a student had told her about me and was studying media because of that.”

Visibly emotional and choking up, Dale said: “You can imagine how that feels.

“I have not taken on all there engagements because of this case as some of the schools are remote and not easily accessible by train.

“It is the impact on other people more than me. I do not get paid for it, in fact it costs me.”

Dale’s chequered driving career began early, crashing his Ford Cortina Mark III when driving to the pub on his twentieth birthday.

This resulted in injuries to both his passenger sisters, with one suffering a fractured skull and the other losing her front teeth on impact with the windscreen.

Perhaps that its why more recently Dale has advocated for newly-qualified drivers to take a compulsory speed awareness course.

“I have a lot of links in Norfolk and if I go to a school in the north of the county it is difficult by train and the same for Devon and Cornwall,” he told the magistrates.

“Time is also a factor, with most schools wanting me there at ten or eleven in the morning.”

When questioned about his earnings he asked: “Can I write that down rather than say it’s in open court?”

Bench Chairman John Edwards told Dale: “You have pleaded guilty to speeding and we do not find ‘exceptional hardship’ in this case.

“Four penalty points have been added to your licence and that makes you a totter, which brings a disqualification of six months.

“You cannot drive any motor vehicle on a public road for six moths. If you do drive while disqualified it is a serious offence and you may be sentenced to custody and disqualified again.”

"Where's The Money?": NHS Manager's £132K Fraud

An NHS administrator defrauded £132,596 from two GP surgeries - and still refuses to say what happened to the money.

Robert Nsiiro, 36, paid a total of 271 invoices into his own bank accounts while occupying both positions and not a penny has been recovered.

At Croydon Crown Court today
he received three years-and-nine months imprisonment and confiscation proceedings will follow.

“He stole over one hundred thousand pounds and the court would like to know where that is. Please take instructions,” asked Recorder Valeria Swift of Nsiiro’s lawyer.

“He doesn’t have any money and paid it to others he owed money to,” said Adil Syed, defending, after initially refusing to ask his client about the issue.

“I am not satisfied with that answer and there should be further enquiries into his finances,” announced Recorder Swift, after insisting Mr Syed take instructions.

“He is not in a position to pay compensation, but I am going to instigate these proceedings to investigate. I have the power to do that.”

Nsiiro, of Towpath Walk, Homerton, east London pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position between June 12, 2020 and August 31, 2023 at The Bermondsey Spa Medical Practice, Southwark.

He also pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at The Neaman Practice, Barbican, City of London between September 23, 2023 and April 26, 2024.

Nsiiro made 246 fraudulent payments to his account totalling £73,000 at The Bermondsey Spa and 25, totalling £59,596 at Neaman Practice.

He further pleaded guilty to once count of money laundering via multiple bank accounts on or before April 26, 2024.

Prosecutor Louise McCollough told the court: “He defrauded monies and sought to launder the proceeds via bank accounts in the name of suppliers that were under his control.

At Bermondsey Spa Nsiiro was trusted to pay the practice’s rent and locum expenses and was employed as a manager at the Neaman Practice, which is still reeling from his fraud.

His first employer reported him to Action Fraud after he left and the police probe also investigated the accounts at the second practice.

The courtroom was packed with Nsiiro’s supporters and Mr Syed said: “He comes from a very good family and his siblings and loved ones are hard-working professional people.

“He has raised his step-daughter as his own for the past ten years and this morning he told her he was going to court and custody was on the cards and came here today with a bag of his belongings.

“He has let a lot of people down and it has been quite a shock to the family that he has been involved in this criminality.

“He has tarnished the reputation of himself and the family, who are here for him, not thinking any family member would ever be involved in anything like this.”

“This was fraud in breach of a position of trust and your employers were both NHS GP practices,” Recorder Swift told Nsiiro. “Having defrauded that money you laundered it via bank accounts.

“But for your arrest you would have continued to offend for a considerable period of time.

“Bermondsey Spa speak of your considerable betrayal and that you were a trusted and valued employee and placed considerable trust in you.

“The partners are doing their best to serve the community and are heavily reliant on staff, but were utterly betrayed. You essentially stole from the NHS and the public,” said Recorder Swift.

“One of the partners at Neaman says she was in total shock and her life has changed and she now has sleeplessness, anxiety, insomnia and has endured a turbulent six months of her life.

“She is so concerned as to how the practice is going to pay their bills and tax and she can no longer afford the family holiday for her children.

“She feels she has left everyone down , but it is you who has let everyone down,” the Recorder told Nsiiro. “They had to cancel staff parties and morale is at rock bottom.

“You must realise the burdens you have placed on the victims of your crimes. 

“Neaman have cancelled their refurbishment and new medical equipments plans and contemplated closing down completely and the doctor says she can no longer afford a car and has taken her two children out of school.

“Your actions have had the most devastating impacts for these hard-working people serving the community.”

Recorder Swift initially sentenced Nsiiro to four years and four months imprisonment, but after considering the term over lunchtime reduced it by seven months.