London Cyclist Killed

Another London cyclist was killed on the capital's roads today – fatally injured after colliding with a dump truck.

The tragedy occurred at the junction of Camberwell Road and Albany Road, Camberwell, south London at approximately 12.07pm.

The dump truck was turning left at traffic lights into Albany Road when the bike ended up trapped under its wheels.

Police and the ambulance service responded to the emergency and attended to the male cyclist, aged in his early sixties.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:37pm.

Next of kin have been informed.



The male driver of the lorry stopped at the scene and has not been arrested at this time.



Detectives from the Road Death Investigation Unit have been informed and enquiries continue.


Violent Punch-Up After QPR v Ipswich Town Match

An Ipswich Town supporter, who battled in the street with a rival fan – landing eleven blows as police struggled to separate the pair – has been banned from matches for three years.

Construction site manager James Ballantyne, 36, of Church Road, Friston, Saxmundham, Suffolk pleaded guilty to affray outside QPR's ground on August 17, but claimed he is not a follower of the club.

Hammersmith Magistrates' Court heard it was approximately 5pm when a home fan approached Ballantyne and his group aggressively in South Africa Road following QPR's 1 – 0 win.

“CCTV shows that a fight breaks out and Mr. Ballantyne threw eleven punches, which landed on either the head or body of the other man,” said prosecutor Mr. Martin Edwards.

“The QPR fan, who was also arrested, threw approximately eight punches, but Mr. Ballantyne, the much bigger of the two, started to get the better of him.

“Police officers moved in to break up the fight that was now on the floor, but that did not deter the two men continuing to try to get at one another and the officers used batons and distraction punches.”

Police later questioned the defendant. “He said he did not know the area and that is why he was lingering outside the ground and he admitted that he threw punches.”

Ballantyne, who has convictions for assault and threatening behaviour told the court: “I did not initiate the fight and I had gone to the match with some close friends that I used to play football with.

“I don't support Ipswich, but I admit that when I was attacked I went too far and I used excessive force to defend myself.

“I should keep my job as long as I don't go to prison and I am the sole provider for my family.”

District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe sentenced Ballantyne to 200 hours community service and ordered him to pay £80 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

“This was a nasty incident and fortunately it did not escalate into a larger fight involving twenty, thirty, forty people and you did not stop when the police arrived. It was unwarranted.”

Child Rapist Turned Peeping Tom Eventually Caged

A primary school caretaker, who raped a four year-old girl, sexually abused a thirteen year-old and secretly filmed a married couple with a hidden camera when he accommodated them in his spare bedroom, has been jailed for thirteen years and three months.

Tony Cunningham, 54, (pictured) was a guest at the couple's home in Bridlington Road, Skipsea where he molested the girl when she was a teenager, Croydon Crown Court heard.

Cunningham, of Norbury Avenue, Thornton Heath, Croydon, claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy, but this was rejected by the jury and he received twelve years for raping the child between December 5, 1985 and December 4, 1986 and a concurrent term for indecently assaulting her when she was aged either eight or nine years-old.

Prosecutor Mr. Tim Forster told the jury: “When she was about four years-old she remembers the defendant getting into bed next to her, moving her legs aside and pushing his penis into her.

“She remembers it hurt and that the following morning she was sore and she has that firmly in her mind.”

Cunningham was also convicted of two counts of sexually assaulting the Skipsea girl between October 18, 2006 and October 18, 2007 and received an additional nine months imprisonment.

He was further convicted of voyeurism on March 24, 2005 in that he recorded the girl's parents for his own sexual gratification at his former home in Woodside Road, South Norwood and received another six months.

Mr. Forster told the jury the Skipsea complainant, now aged 19, confided in a friend just before Christmas, last year that she had been touched by Cunningham

“She remembered that five years ago when the defendant came to stay with her family that while she was watching television Mr. Cunningham pulled a blanket over her and put his hand on her hand and moved it towards his groin.

“Two or three months later she was taking laundry upstairs when Mr. Cunningham asked her if she wanted a cuddle.

“He pulled her on top of him on to the bed and she could feel him thrusting between her legs with his erect penis.”

After the allegations were made Cunningham was asked to leave the matrimonial home by his wife, who then found two VHS cassettes among his belongings.

“She was absolutely shocked to find it was rather grainy footage of their spare room and the couple in bed, or undressing or getting up in the morning with particular emphasis on the wife.

“There was some sexual activity and footage of the wife without any clothing and the husband lying naked on the bed,” explained Mr. Forster.

“The footage had been recorded with a concealed camera and edited down to the best bits, into a compilation.”

The police were called and it was obvious the camera had been hidden inside an air vent cavity, which had been adjusted to allow images to be recorded, the jury were told.

“Mr. Cunningham is obsessed with cameras and he installed a CCTV system in the house,” added Mr. Forster. 

Among some of Cunningham's pornographic dvd's his wife also found a computer disc that contained four images of the Skipsea girl.

“They show her in a paddling pool and they include two close-ups of her crotch.

“Mr. Cunningham was the gifted and keen photographer in the house. Does it reveal how his mind was working?

“They are a window into his mind,” the prosecutor added. “If you have any doubt about what the Crown says happened in Yorkshire these pictures will remove that doubt.”

Mayfair Millionaire Murder Trial: "I Would Never Contemplate Harming Robert" Says Accused Financial Advisor

A financial advisor, accused of battering a Mayfair millionaire to death after stealing £343,000 from him, has told a jury: "I would never contemplate harming Robert."

David Jeffs, 36, of Larch Close, Arnold, Nottingham denies murdering wealthy socialite Roberto Troyan, 63, who suffered fatal head injuries at his home in Mount Street on March 8.

Twice-married father-of-one said: "I had a very good relationship with Robert, we were friends. He bought us a nice wedding gift."

Mr. Troyan, (pic.top) the civil partner of the late interior designer Anthony Feldman, invested bonds of £650,000 and £550,000 on the advice of Jeffs, who also became his £1,000 per week 'financial concierge'.

The defendant was also earning £53,000 per year with London and Weybridge, Surrey-based HFM Columbus and enjoyed an annual expense account of £8,000.

"I was doing a lot of work for Robert, some of it overpaid, but at no time was it fraudulent," Jeffs (pic.bottom) told the Croydon Crown Court jury. "He was very vigilant about his money, it was very precious to him."

The defendant admitted not declaring his income to the taxman after 2008 explaining: "It became less and less of a priority and became my ongoing shame. 

"Everyday it was a crashing reality and every day looked worse in my mind."

Jeffs claims a blood-stained mystery man confronted him on the landing outside the flat on the day of the murder and told the jury there were often random men present and evidence of drug-fuelled sex parties when he arrived for meetings.

"I saw a lot of evidence of cocaine taking and sometimes there would be men I did not know there.

"Leather paddles and pornography was poorly hidden in a wicker basket and I once found Robert completely naked, passed out in his lounge surrounded by sexual paraphernalia."

There was also evidence of whips and sex toys used during the parties, the court heard, and Jeffs said gay porn would still be on the television when he arrived.

The jury have been told he abused his client's trust, buying himself two Lotus sports cars, blowing £19,500 in one night at lap dancing club Spearmint Rhino and treating himself to "expensive" holidays in the USA, Mauritius and Ibiza.

There were also VIP rugby and polo events, stays at expensive hotels, meals at top restaurants, a £1150 night at celebrity West End club Chinawhite and evidence of cocaine and ecstasy use.

Jeffs admitted using cocaine and ecstasy, claiming he was introduced to the drugs by one of a string of girlfriends he had after his first marriage ended in 2008.

He was introduced to Mr. Troyan in early 2008 and tasked with getting a grip on his finances.

"He'd been left an awful lot of money from the sale of the matrimonial home and had an undesirable group around him that were encouraging him to spend a lot of money at a quick rate and his society friends were concerned.

"Robert's main aim was to have the money at arms length so it wouldn't be frittered away. 

"He had all these hangers-on that would march him down to the bank and spend his money for him.

"He was probably the most unusual person I've met, very flamboyant, very loud, very flighty and his attention span was extremely short and he wilfully misunderstood things if they were things he did not want to hear.

"Robert was a lot of work for my staff, demanding money at odd times and at odd places," added Jeffs. 

"The staff at Columbus felt he was very offensive, he'd talk down to them, yell at them, call up drunk."

Jeffs estimated he was spending three to four hours per week sorting out Mr. Troyan's everyday finances and charged him his financial consultant rate of £250 per hour to be his 'concierge'.

"Out of some sense of guilt for the work I was doing for him he said: 'We have got to work out a way to pay you for this.'

"It was a generous four hours per week and you have to take into account the time he took up with his calls, sometimes in the middle of the night and all through the day.

"It was deliberately excessive, not a role I enjoyed."

After doing financial "bits and bobs" for free for eighteen months Jeffs told the jury he was paid a lump-sum of £60,000 in back-pay by Mr. Troyan.

When asked if he defrauded Mr. Troyan the defendant replied: "Absolutely not."

Jeffs has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr. Troyan on March 8 and defrauding him between March 1, 2010 and December 2, last year.

He was found on his blood-splattered kitchen floor by his cleaner and had suffered multiple skull fractures, a fractured jaw, cheek and eye-socket and had inhaled blood into his airways.

The trial continues………….

Popular Music Teacher Facing Prison For Groping 9 Year-Old Pupil

A primary school music teacher, who downloaded child porn, has been convicted of fondling a nine-year old boy during a lunchtime piano lesson and warned by a judge to expect to go to prison.

John Gowers, 52, of Great Water Farm Cottages, Ashurst Wood, East Grinstead was bailed to return to Woolwich Crown Court for sentencing on December 6.

"You must understand that even though I am granting you bail that is no indication of the likely outcome," Judge Andrew Lees told Gowers. "The most likely outcome is an immediate custodial sentence for these matters."

He denied, but was convicted of two counts of sexually assaulting the boy on December 5, last year at the unnamed school in the London Borough of Lewisham.

Before the trial Gowers pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing indecent images, which relate to sixteen at Level One - the lowest category - six at Level Two and one at Level Four.

The vile content was found on his home computer, which was seized and examined by police investigating the sexual assault allegation and revealed internet searches including: 'pre-teen boy nudity' and 'boy sex'.

Gowers' lawyer Miss Lauren Soertsz asked for the probation service to prepare a pre-sentence report and revealed she will be urging the court to pass a suspended prison sentence.

The sentencing guidelines suggest a period of imprisonment of between one and four years, but Miss Soertsz said: "I am going to attempt to persuade the court to take a course that allows this man to retain his liberty."

During the trial prosecutor Mr. Patrick Moran told the jury: "Mr. Gowers was the boy's piano teacher and he was giving the boy a private piano lesson during the school lunch break.

"The defendant is alleged to have touched parts of the boy's body, his penis, his bottom and he touched them for several seconds, long enough for it to be no accident.

"The boy was fully clothed in school uniform and in the middle of playing a piece of music.

"Mr. Gowers said nothing and just kept his hand there and the boy felt very awkward, did not say anything and left after the lesson.

"That evening the boy told his mother, she contacted the school the next morning, and the police were informed.

"The defendant denied having touched the boy in the way described," explained Mr. Moran. "He said he remembered touching his leg, above the knee, but only because he was leaning over.

"He denied touching the boy's penis at all."

The police have prepared the conditions of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order they feel is necessary to impose on Gowers, who has already signed the sex offenders register since admitting having child porn.

Mr. Moran told Judge Lees: "Your honour will have to consider the breach of trust element to these offences."

Cowboy Trader Admits Ripping-Off Pensioner

Carry On Cowboy: Jason Jones

A rogue trader, who aggressively sold thousands of pounds worth of shoddy work to an 83 year-old customer, who paid for improvements to his home, has finally admitted four offences.

Jason Jones, 42, of Worcester Road, Titton, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire harassed the pensioner – described as “very trusting and very friendly” - who paid approximately £9,350 for the work on the south London property.

He pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to engaging in aggressive commercial practise between August 23, last year and February 22 that amounted to harassment in relation to work on the driveway, patio, walkway, roof and gutters of the house in Ryeland Road, Upper Norwood.

Jones also pleaded guilty to three counts of contravening professional diligence, which included the unnecessary jet-washing of the property's roof and carrying-out the jet-washing, sanding and gritting of the driveway and walkway to a poor standard.

He will be sentenced on December 5.

Property Owner Collected Rent While Pocketing Housing Benefit During £16K Scam

A benefit cheat, who secretly rented out his own house while living in a London property for free, has escaped prison with a suspended sentence for the £16,000 scam.

Mini-cab driver Akpanolou Etteh, 51, of 200 Oxlow Lane, Dagenham ripped-off the London Borough of Southwark who paid his rent and council tax for nearly three years.

The first-time offender pleaded guilty at Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court to two counts of dishonestly making a false statement on September 9, 2008 in relation to housing benefit and council tax benefit by failing to declare he was the freehold owner of the Dagenham property.

Etteh also pleaded guilty to two counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change in circumstances between August 1, 2009 and June 20, last year by failing to disclose he was in receipt of rental income.

The court heard Etteh and his wife have a young child with another on the way and had applied to be housed by the London Borough of Southwark before buying the Dagenham home.

“He is very remourseful about what he has done,” said Mr. Clive Johnson, defending. “He has indicated that this has been a wake-up call for him.

“He applied for the Southwark property before he bought the Dagenham property and should have informed the council, but he didn't.”

Etteh claims he is currently earning £460 per week and Mr. Johnson added: “He is struggling to pay his mortgage and if he goes into custody his family could lose their home.”

Bench chairwoman Mrs Susan Williams told Etteh: “This is a very serious matter of fraud.”

He was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to perform 200 hours community service.

Etteh will also pay £832 costs, an £80 victim surcharge and the London Borough of Southwark have indicated they will make their own arrangements to recover the lost money.

Music Teacher Accused Of Groping Nine Year-Old Boy During Piano Lesson

A primary school music teacher fondled a nine-year old boy during a lunchtime piano lesson and was found with a collection of child porn when police arrested him, a court has heard.

John Gowers, 52, of Great Water Farm Cottages, Ashurst Wood, East Grinstead groped the boy's bottom and put his hand between his legs during the lesson.

He has pleaded not guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to two counts of sexually assaulting the boy on December 5, last year, at the school, which is in the london Borough of Lewisham.

However, he has admitted charges relating to images found on his home computer, which revealed a search history that included: 'pre-teen boy nudity' and 'boy sex'.

Prosecutor Mr. Patrick Moran told the jury: "Mr. Gowers was the boy's piano teacher and he was giving the boy a private piano lesson during the school lunch break.

"The defendant is alleged to have touched parts of the boy's body, his penis, his bottom and he touched them for several seconds, long enough for it to be no accident.

"The boy was fully clothed in school uniform and in the middle of playing a piece of music.

"Mr. Gowers said nothing and just kept his hand there and the boy felt very awkward, did not say anything and left after the lesson.

"That evening the boy told his mother, she contacted the school the next morning, and the police were informed."

Officers visited Gowers' home address and arrested him, also seizing and later analysing his computer.

"The defendant denied having touched the boy in the way described," explained Mr. Moran. "He said he remembered touching his leg, above the knee, but only because he was leaning over.

"He denied touching the boy's penis at all."

"On his computer were found photographic images of pre-pubescent naked boys in various poses and the defendant has pleaded guilty to offences dealing solely with material found on his computer.

"The defendant has a sexual interest in pre-pubescent boys and on that day in December he showed it."

Trial continues…………

Paedo Who Downloaded Child Porn Gets Four Years For Sex Attacks On Young Girls

A paedophile, who hunted the internet for child porn, has been jailed for having “acted out his fantasies with two girls” - sexually abusing one of them on his lap during a game of 'It'.

Father-of-two Peter Ross, 56, of Camrose, Beech Drive, Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey claimed the girls, who were aged between twelve to thirteen and nine to eleven years-old respectively at the time, simply invented the allegations.

Prosecutor Mr. Tom Wilkins told the Croydon Crown Court jury the defendant downloaded child pornography on his computer and: “acted out his fantasies with two girls.”

The offences took place at Ross's former Croydon home, which he and his family suddenly abandoned when he was initially reported to police in 2006, the court heard.


“The defendant made the first complainant play a game called 'It' and when she was 'It' she would have to sit on his lap and that is when he touched her,” explained Mr. Wilkins.

The victim reported Ross to the police and he abandoned his home so quickly the doors were left open, added the prosecutor.

The second victim found herself alone in the property with the defendant, explained Mr. Wilkins. “He pulled her jeans down and rubbed her just above the vagina.

“He says both girls are lying, that they have made it up.

“When the police went to arrest him for these allegations that the girls made they searched his home computer and on it there were forty or so indecent images of girls downloaded from the internet.

“The computer had been used since 2007 to search for the same imagery.”

The 2006 investigation was not pursued, but after the allegations were discussed on Facebook in 2010 by the complainants they came forward and made statements to police.

Ross was convicted on two counts of indecently assaulting the older girl between May 1, 2004 and June 13, 2006 and indecently assaulting the younger girl between May 1, 2004 and May 20, 2006.

He was also found guilty of six counts of making indecent images on or before July 24, last year.

Ross received two years for each of the assaults on the girls, which he will have to serve consecutively and he received a three-month concurrent term for possessing the child porn.

Father And Son Blackmail Duo Jailed For £35,000 Sex Pic Plot

A father and son, who blackmailed a company boss with compromising pictures of his married business colleague being straddled by a half-naked woman in a Dubai hotel room after a £180 million per month oil deal turned sour have each been jailed for eighteen months.

They demanded £35,000 to prevent the images being plastered all over the internet - damaging the international company's reputation - and also shown to the subject's wife.

Karim Ashikali, 57, and Mohamedraza Ashikali, 26, both of Dean Drive, Stanmore claimed the blackmail complaint was invented to cut them out of the lucrative oil deal and maintained Mohamedraza - known as Mo - is owed £35,000 in wages by the company.

They were both found guilty by an Isleworth Crown Court jury to making an unwarranted demand, with menaces, against the businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, between November 6 and November 20, last year.

The businessman and the Ashikali's had a meeting at the company's HQ in South Kensington on November 6 after a fruitless investment trip by both defendant's to Dubai resulted in Mohamedraza (pic.top) parting company with the consulting firm.

The company boss's colleague - identified as Mr. B - was photographed stripped to the waist in a Dubai hotel room with a half-naked mystery woman on top of him, wearing only a bra and knickers.

"When they came in Mo held his phone up and showed me the pictures.

"They were of Mr. B with a woman sitting astride him, taken from two different angles," explained the businessman. "The only reason the Ashikali's came to me was to discredit him."

Mohamedraza also threatened to tell Mr. B's wife her husband was enjoying a fling with an attractive young female member of staff at the company, who he also twice bedded, and had a recording of the employee confirming the affair.

"He said he was going to post the images on the internet.

"He was never owed any outstanding salary. That is money he wanted to keep quiet, to not tell Mr. B's wife."

The Ashikali's failed to find investors for the company while in Dubai, but Karim (pic.bottom) claimed the Saudi Arabian consul-general could allocate them three million barrels of oil a month - a deal that would generate huge profits.

However, the businessman says the deal was flawed and Mr. B agreed with him, denying there was any motivation to "cut out" the Ashikali's.

With the consul-general demanding nine-tenths of the commission the businessman told the court: "It would have been illegal. Totally illegal."

He also told the court his company "lost complete faith" in the Ashikali's efforts to source investment in the middle-east.

"Some of those investors were not investors at all. They were trying to take our money."

The businessman said he reported the Ashikali's after cash demands were made following the meeting when the compromising pictures were revealed.

"We discussed it after receiving an email saying Karim wanted money and then we went to the police. We took it as a demand."

He said Karim emailed him claiming time was running out to stop his son going public, warning: 'I don't think I can hold him (Mo) off much longer!!'

Secretive Benefit Cheat Kept Assets Under Wraps

A benefit cheat, accused of keeping his property ownership and bulging bank accounts a secret during a £22,000 fraud, has been sentenced.

Narinder Dosanjh, 52, of Florence Road, Sandwell, West Midlands received housing benefit and council tax benefit from the London Borough of Southwark.

At Woolwich Crown Court he received a nine month prison sentence, suspended for fifteen months, was ordered to perform 240 hours community service work and pay £3,000 costs.

He was originally charged with multiple counts of dishonestly making a false statement to obtain benefits on dates between December 1, 2008 and February 27, 2012.

The charges involved failing to disclose his ownership of a property in Rosefield Road, Smethwick and a balance in his Yorkshire Building Society account that reached £49,198 and a Barclays Bank account that totalled £6,982.

Voyeuristic Paedo Abused Girls And Spied On Couple With Secret Hidden Camera

A voyeuristic paedophile, who secretly filmed a couple in his spare bedroom, also raped a four year-old girl twenty-seven years ago before subjecting her and another girl to further sexual assaults, a court heard.

Primary school caretaker Tony Cunningham, 54, of Norbury Avenue, Thornton Heath denies all the charges, claiming he is a victim of a conspiracy to frame him.

Prosecutor Mr. Tim Forster told the Croydon Crown Court jury: “When she was about four years-old she remembers the defendant getting into bed next to her, moving her legs aside and pushing his penis into her.

“She remembers it hurt and that the following morning she was sore and she has that firmly in her mind.”

Cunningham has pleaded not guilty to raping the four year-old between December 5, 1985 and December 4, 1986 and two separate counts of indecently assaulting her when she was aged either six or seven or eight or nine years-old.

He has also pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting a girl in Skipsea, Yorkshire between October 18, 2006 and October 18, 2007, plus two alternative counts relating to the same incidents.

Cunningham also denies voyeurism on March 24, 2005 in that he recorded the Skipsea girl's parents for his own sexual gratification at his former home in Woodside Road, South Norwood.

The jury were told the rape complainant recalled two other incidents when she was alone with Cunningham, the first when he was driving her in his car when she was aged six to seven years old.

“He took her hand and placed it on his groin,” explained Mr. Forster.

The next incident occurred when she was eight or nine years old.

“She was only wearing a dressing gown and the defendant pulled her onto the couch so she was lying on top of him and she could feel his erect penis between her legs and he began to rub against her.”

Cunningham was a guest at a couple's home in Skipsea, where he molested their daughter when she was twelve or thirteen years old, the jury were told.

Mr. Tim Forster explained that the Skipsea complainant, now aged 19, confided in a friend just before Christmas, last year that she had been touched by Cunningham

“She remembered that five years ago when the defendant came to stay with her family that while she was watching television Mr. Cunningham pulled a blanket over her and put his hand on her hand and moved it towards his groin.

“Two or three months later she was taking laundry upstairs when Mr. Cunningham asked her if she wanted a cuddle.

“He pulled her on top of him on to the bed and she could feel him thrusting between her legs with his erect penis.”

After the allegations were made Cunningham was asked to leave the matrimonial home by his wife, who then found two VHS cassettes among his belongings.

“She was absolutely shocked to find it was rather grainy footage of their spare room and the couple in bed, or undressing or getting up in the morning with particular emphasis on the wife.

“There was some sexual activity and footage of the wife without any clothing and the husband lying naked on the bed,” explained Mr. Forster.

“The footage had been recorded with a concealed camera and edited down to the best bits, into a compilation.”

The police were called and it was obvious the camera had been hidden inside an air vent cavity, which had been adjusted to allow images to be recorded, the jury were told.

“Mr. Cunningham is obsessed with cameras and he installed a CCTV system in the house,” added Mr. Forster.

Among some of Cunningham's pornographic dvd's his wife also found a computer disc that contained four images of the Skipsea girl.

“They show her in a paddling pool and they include two close-ups of her crotch.

“Mr. Cunningham was the gifted and keen photographer in the house. Does it reveal how his mind was working?

“They are a window into his mind,” the prosecutor added. “If you have any doubt about what the Crown says happened in Yorkshire these pictures will remove that doubt.”

Trial continues...........

Blocked Lavvy Causes Crown Court Evacuation

London's Southwark Crown Court had to be evacuated early this afternoon after blocked toilet caused hundreds of gallons of water to pour through the centre of the busy building.

Just after noon water began flooding the area just outside Court One on the second floor, pouring through ceiling tiles and light fittings.

A court security spokesman confirmed: "Water was pouring in on the fifth floor and flooding the courtrooms on the floors below."

One of the ushers said: "I knew something was not right when I saw water pouring through where the lifts are on the fifth floor."

The jury dining room on the first floor also experienced flooding from above.

A decision was quickly made to evacuate the thirty year-old building cancelling cases in fifteen courtrooms and turning lawyers, judges, witnesses, defendants, court staff and visitors out onto the street.

"Mean And Greedy" Newsagent's Oyster Card Rip-Off

An Oyster-approved newsagent ripped-off London commuters during a "mean and greedy fraud" which netted him £6,000 by stealing money from their top-up cards.

Mariathas Thevathas, 54, docked a few pounds from thousands of transactions during an eighteen-month spell, which left public transport users with less money on their Oyster cards than they had paid for.

The Sri Lankan asylum seeker, who ran Crystal Newsagents, South Norwood Hill, All Saints, Upper Norwood was sentenced yesterday to ten months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to perform 150 hours community service.

Oyster users may be surprised to learn that despite being issued with a receipt confirming the credit they have paid for dishonest agents can void the transaction for a lower amount and pocket the difference.

Transport for London (tfl) fraud investigators admit there is nothing to stop the practice, but claim an agent who voids top-ups on a regular basis will be immediately flagged and come under scrutiny.

"The people swindled are the poor customers going into his shop, thinking they have a valid Oyster, and he's taken all the money. There's nothing on it," said Croydon Crown Court Judge Nicholas Ainley.

"It seems to me this is a confidence fraud involving multiple transactions."

The judge told first-time offender Thevathas: "This was a mean and greedy fraud. I don't care what your financial difficulties were, I am sure the financial difficulties of your customers were just as bad.

"You have done this in a very large number of occasions. A straightforward confidence fraud on members of the public."

Prosecutor Mr. Michael Collis told the court tfl noticed a large number of Oyster top-ups were being voided at Thevathas's business.

"Three separate frauds were in progress," he explained. "The first involved a customer paying for a top-up before it was very quickly voided and their Oyster card then topped-up with a lower value.

"The second type of fraud was topping-up in a lower amount than requested, then topping-up a second time to reach the correct amount before voiding the second amount entirely.

"The third type was to top-up the card with the correct amount and simply voiding it in it's entirety.

"The customers would have a receipt with the correct amount they had paid, but that amount was not credited to the card."

The cast majority of Thevathas's customers used unregistered Oyster cards and tfl only traced six customers who were defrauded.

Police raided the newsagent's on June 25, last year.

"They found numerous voided receipts around the till, in the bin behind the counter and in a black rubbish bag in the store room."

Thevathas protested his innocence until the first day of his trial. "He said they were voided because the customers had changed their minds and it was all done at their request.

"However, police and tfl noticed all the Oyster equipment was kept out of the view of the customers," added Mr. Collis.

Thevathas's lawyer Mr. Kviraj Choolun told the court his client succumbed to "financial pressures" as his family's only breadwinner and had a£17,000 credit card debt and £200,000 mortgage.

The shop passed into new ownership in March and the defendant is now a £600 per month store assistant supported by working tax credits and child benefit.

Thevathas has suggested compensation to tfl should come out of the £10,000 deposit he paid them for the Oyster equipment.

Thevathas, of Merchiston Road, Catford  pleaded guilty to one count of fraud against Transport for London between December 31, 2010 and June 26, last year.