Dating-Site Conwoman Sentenced For £56K Charity Scam

The notorious conwoman, who cheated three men she wooed via an online dating site out of over £56,000, has received a suspended prison sentence.

Neelam Desai, 36, of Beulah Grove, Croydon used a false photo and identity to pose as a charity fundraiser for homeless children during the sixteen-month scam.

She posed as a hospital pharmacist on the Asian dating site and never met the men, who thought the money was a charitable contribution for luxury foreign trips and bargain computers and phones.

At Croydon Crown Court Desai was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years.

She must also complete 120 hours community service work.

The first victim says he was left feeling “suicidal” and “depressed” after losing approximately £36,000 and was forced out of business as his finances dipped.

The second man lost approximately £3,400 at the same time his mother was dying from cancer and asked in his victim impact statement: “Are these the actions of a decent human being?”

The third victim lost around £17,000 and complained of his “emotional and financial loss.”

Desai pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud by false representation between December, 2012 and April 16, 2014.

Prosecutor Mr. Martin Goudie told the court that Desai posed as a pharmacist working at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital on dating site shade.com

She convinced the victims they could buy cut-price luxury electronic goods such as iPhones and iPads, which had been donated to her charity.

The men also financed discounted non-existent holidays to New York, Monte Carlo and Barbados.

The court agreed Desai has no assets after squandering all the money and a nominal £1.00 compensation order will be made on sentencing.

She never met any of the men face to face or properly identified herself. “The picture she provided on the internet was not a picture of her.” 

Desai received 30 months imprisonment for a £230,000 travel agency fraud in May, 2014 and was released on home curfew in April, 2015.

In February, 2010 received nine month suspended sentence for securing loans on her mother’s home behind her back.

Desai says she got involved with a man and together they lived a criminal lifestyle until her imprisonment.

She insists she has not offended since her release.

Imposter Jailed For Trying To Sell Local Eccentric's £1.7m Home

Target: £1.7m Islington House

An imposter who posed as a homeowner to sell the vulnerable pensioner’s £1.7m Islington house behind his back is starting a twenty-one month prison sentence.

Ian Anderson, 57, impersonated 65 year-old local eccentric Charles Norrie, to fool solicitors, surveyors and prospective buyers of the desirable townhouse in the Canonbury Conservation Area.

Retired computer programmer Mr. Norrie is believed to be in care and Northern Irishman Anderson, of Gateshead Road, Borehamwood was arrested while showcasing the vacant property.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation, namely impersonating the homeowner, between November 18 and December 22, last year and on February 17, this year.

He also admitted possessing an identity document, with intent, namely a counterfeit passport in the name of Mr. Norrie on February 17, the day of his arrest.

“It takes a lot of nerve,” announced Judge Peter Clarke QC.

A concerned neighbour tipped-off Mr. Norrie’s ex-wife about groups of people visiting the house and a silent alarm was fitted, leading police to Anderson when he was there hosting prospective buyers.

Victim: Charles Norrie

Anderson claims he was merely the frontman and was only going to receive a few hundred pounds after answering an online Craigslist ad offering “no questions asked” work to a suitable white, middle-aged gent.

He spun a tale to buyers of wanting a quick sale of between £1.0-£1.2m because he and his wife were divorcing.

If a sale was completed the funds would have gone to the fraudsters.

“This defendant impersonated Mr. Norrie to sell that property,” prosecutor Mr. Mark Fenton Kimsey told Blackfriars Crown Court.

“Mr. Norrie somehow lost his keys and his identity was obtained for the defendant to meet solicitors, surveyors and to sell the property.

“Mr. Anderson’s was a significant, but not a leading role. He was the frontman who impersonated the victim.”

Mr. Stephen Walters, defending, said: “He was short of money at the time and was given the passport and sent to solicitors and surveyors.

“He was given a phone and met a young black male outside tube stations and a second sharply dressed black male and was paid a few hundred pounds for each of his actions.

“He was told the occupant was dead and the money from the house would go to the state.

“He’s very frightened indeed of receiving a prison sentence for the first time at his age and had a blackout the last time he was at court.” 

Last week a neighbour described Mr. Norrie as “eccentric”, suggesting he was not able to take care of himself any longer.

On hearing a fraudster had been jailed for trying to sell the pensioner’s house they replied: “Good.”

Young Mum's £5K Blackmail Bid After Boozy One Night Stand

A young woman, who tried to blackmail a middle-aged one-night stand out of £5,000 by making a false rape claim to police, received a suspended prison sentence yesterday.

Mum-of-two Rebecca Williams, 23, did get £200 cash out of the 57 year-old man that night and he was traced by police a month later at his £1.6m home.

Luckily he had made a recording on his mobile phone, which proved the complaint was false and the investigation ended, saving the man from potentially eight years in prison.

“This is horrifically serious, as wicked a thing as someone could do,” said Judge Daniel Worsley at Blackfriars Crown Court.

“Maybe other judge’s would harden their hearts and maybe I should, I don’t know, but for the sake of the children the balance tips towards you and the sentence can be suspended.”

First-time offender Williams, of Grange Street, Derby pleaded guilty to one count of blackmail on June 21, last year at the company director’s home in Aberdeen Park, Highbury, north London. 

“You demanded five thousand pounds from a stranger you had sexual intercourse with when you were in drink.

“Wickedly by threatening him that if he didn’t pay you, you’d go to the police and say you were sixteen years-old when you were picked-up in the street and taken to his home and raped.

“In fact you had met him earlier that night and gone by taxi to his home.

“You went so far as to make a 999 call to the police using a false name.

“You got two hundred pounds out of him that night while you were very drunk.

“The police took a month to trace the call and they went to arrest the victim.

“Thank goodness he had switched on his telephone during the course of this and showed the police and was immediately released.

“He says that he forgives you and you are very lucky in that respect.”

The judge estimated if the bogus complaint went to trial the man would receive eight years imprisonment on conviction.

“For such a wicked crime as this it would not be wrong to sentence you to four years in prison.

“You pleaded guilty at the last minute, days before the trial and I thought sending you to prison today was absolutely inevitable.

“You are genuinely ashamed and sorry and other things that tip the balance is the harm that it would cause your two children, to whom you are a very good mother.”

Williams has a six year-old daughter and three-month old son by two different partners, the most recent of which is starting a seven-year sentence for drug offences.

If jailed she would have lost her two-bed housing association flat and the children would be split-up and cared for by different relatives.

She received two years imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months and must complete 100 hours community service.

The judge ordered her to pay £200 compensation to the victim.

“It’s a derisory sum in the circumstances, compared to the seriousness of the offence, but there’s no reason she shouldn’t pay back the money the man lost that night.

“I have to take into account the children,” he concluded. “I say no more than that.”

Notorious Conwoman's £56,000 Dating Site Charity Swindle

A notorious conwoman cheated three men she wooed via an online dating site out of over £56,000 they thought was a charitable contribution for luxury foreign trips and bargain computers and phones.

Neelam Desai, 36, of Beulah Grove, Croydon used a false identity to pose as a charity fundraiser for homeless children during the sixteen-month scam.

The first victim says was left feeling “suicidal” and “depressed” after losing approximately £36,000 and was forced out of business as his finances dipped.

The second man lost approximately £3,400 at the same time his mother was dying from cancer and asked in his victim impact statement: “Are these the actions of a decent human being?”

The third victim lost around £17,000 and complained of his “emotional and financial loss.”

She pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud by false representation between December, 2012 and April 16, 2014.

Prosecutor Mr. Martin Goudie told Croydon Crown Court last Friday that Desai posed as a pharmacist working at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital on Asian dating site shade.com

She convinced the victims they could buy cut-price luxury electronic goods such as iPhones and iPads, which had been donated to her charity.

The men also financed discounted non-existent holidays to New York, Monte Carlo and Barbados.

The court agreed Desai has no assets after squandering all the money and a nominal £1.00 compensation order will be made on sentencing.

She never met any of the men face to face or properly identified herself. “The picture she provided on the internet was not a picture of her.” 

Desai received 30 months imprisonment for a £230,000 travel agency fraud in May, 2014 and was released on home curfew in April, 2015.

In February, 2010 received nine month suspended sentence for securing loans on her mother’s home behind her back.

Desai says she got involved with a man and together they lived a criminal lifestyle until her imprisonment.

She insists she has not offended since her release.

Judge Deborah Charles will sentence Desai on December 20.

City Insurance Broker's Drunken Uber Row

A drunken City insurance broker kicked an Uber driver’s door, causing £1200 worth of damage, during a £5 row over a booking mix-up.

Rupert Phoenix, 28, a broker at Hayward Aviation - Europe’s largest aircraft insurer - also ground his foot into the paintwork before making off.

Fortunately he was traced by police via his original online booking to his home in Adelaide Square, Bedford and invited to Wandsworth Police Station for questioning.

He pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a VW Passat, owned by Theo Nwachuku in Lower Richmond Road on September 17.

Prosecutor Miss Saliha Ayub told Wimbledon Magistrates Court it was 8.40pm when Phoenix, who had just drunk four pints, got in the cab.

“The driver said hello, but Mr. Phoenix did not reply and the driver noticed a smell of alcohol.”

The driver thought the booking was for Fulham, but Phoenix insisted he wanted to go to St. Pancras railway station.

“There was an argument in the cab and the driver said he would not continue and Mr. Phoenix got out.

“He slammed the door then kicked the door and rubbed his foot on it.

“Mr. Nwachuku got out to confront Mr. Phoenix, who was walking away from the scene, and he denied all knowledge of causing any damage.”

The first-time offender was questioned by police once traced. “He said there was an argument and the driver had been rude to him.

“He said he had four pints and was fairly drunk.”

Phoenix told the court: “I think part of the argument was that something had gone wrong with the system and he was charging me five pounds.

“My actions that night were reckless and idiotic.”

He was conditionally discharged for six months, ordered to pay £1200 compensation for the damage, plus £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

"I Hope That He Rots In Hell": Ex-Scout Master Gets 13 Years For Molesting Four Youngsters

Paedophile: Terry Figg

An ex-scout master, who molested four young boys during camping trips, swimming lessons and visits to his garden workshop four decades ago, has received thirteen years imprisonment.

Terry Figg, 67, of Cook Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire preyed on the boys, including two brothers, all aged between ten and fourteen years-old throughout the 1970’s, the court heard.

They were all members of Crofton Oak scout group, based in Orpington, south-east London and it was a BBC documentary concerning abuse within the youth organisation that prompted the complaints against Figg.

He was convicted at Croydon Crown Court of eleven counts of indecent assault and must also sign the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

A victim impact statement from one of Figg’s victims was heard for the first time yesterday, in which he said: “I hope that he rots in hell.”

“The whole of my life has been effected. You should be able to trust these people and you realise you cannot trust anyone when something like this happens.”

As a 14 year-old the complainant tried to electrocute himself as a result of Figg’s abuse and he added: “I’ve had feelings in my life when I thought I’d be better off dead.

“I was unable to consummate my marriage on my wedding night because of feelings about being touched.”

Figg fought the allegations and forced the victims to give evidence against him during the two week trial. 

Now middle-aged men they recounted abuse at the hands of Figg between April 29, 1970 and December 2, 1980.

Locked-Up: Figg

Prosecutor Mr. William Eagleton said: “They all took place in either the workshop behind Mr. Figg’s house, where he’d rigged-up a bed and a television, or on camping trips or when swimming in Swanley.”

The first complainant enjoyed working on cars and motorbikes and says he was first groped between the legs in Figg’s workshop.

“Mr. Figg came up behind him and fondled him over his clothing and showed him pornographic pictures.”

The boy was similarly fondled between the legs on  camping trip. “He remembers Mr. Figg reaching down into his sleeping bag and feeling him.”

The jury were told the abuse escalated back at the workshop with Figg encouraging the boy to lie on top of him on the bed as he performed a sex act on the youngster.

“In the swimming pool he remembers Mr. Figg taking hold of him and fondling him over his swimming trunks.”

The complainant reported Figg to The Scout Association in 2009, but it was only after two others reported the defendant following the 2014 documentary that he was contacted by police.

The second complainant said Figg first molested him during swimming lessons and the defendant was convicted of cupping his genitals.

“He remembers being shown pornographic pictures and remembers Mr. Figg exposing himself to him.”

The prosecutor said Figg also repeatedly performed a sex act on the boy in the workshop. “That went on for a year or more.”

The third complainant was an off-road vehicle enthusiast. “They would go to trialling events all over the country,” explained Mr. Eagleton.

“Once when camping he woke during the night and Mr. Figg had reached down his sleeping bag and was touching him.”

The jury were told the boy was similarly abused like the others in the workshop as was the fourth complainant.

Figg is also groped him between the legs during a swimming trip.

NHS Manager 'Dodgy Hodgey' And Cronies Jailed For Kidney Dialysis Scandal

Lisa Green & Alan Hodge

An NHS Trust manager responsible for kidney dialysis equipment at three hospital’s has been jailed for four years for awarding his cronies lucrative contracts during a £250,000 fraud.

Renal technologist Alan Hodge, 53, received “kick-backs” for paying his pals NHS money in return for either non-existent or exorbitant work.

Nicknamed 'Dodgy Hodgey' he was employed by Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs services from Epsom Hospital; St. Helier Hospital and Sutton Hospital.

Hodge, of Aulton Way, Sutton was convicted of one count of defrauding the Trust between November 1, 2007 and October 9, 2013.

Company director Pierre Allen, 55, of Canon Farm Cottages, Canons Lane, Burgh Heath, Tadworth - boss of Main Contractors - received three years.

Pierre Allen 

Plumber Stephen Thompson, 47, of Warnham Road, Furnace Green, Crawley received two years.

They were found guilty by a jury of the same count.

Hodge’s partner, Lisa Green, 49, laundered some of the money and was convicted of converting criminal property between January 1, 2011 and October 9, 2013.

She was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to perform 100 hours community service work.

Phillip Jones, 50, was the only defendant to plead guilty and received 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 250 hours community service for the fraud.

Prosecutor Mr. Stephen Hopper said Main Contractors was specifically set-up to receive money defrauded from the Trust and financed £15,000 worth of matchday trips to Stamford Bridge for Chelsea FC fans Hodge and Allen.

NHS money was also blown on a Butlins holiday, golf days and £1,200 worth of flights to Geneva for a Chelsea FC Champions League match.

“This case involves a fraud against the Trust,” he explained. “Hodge is the central figure, responsible for kidney dialysis equipment at three hospitals and patients’ homes.

“He engaged contractors to install and maintain equipment and was authorised by the NHS to make payments.”

The fraud was exposed when Hodge was suspended over an unrelated matter on October 8, 2013 and external payments immediately plunged by 50%, said Mr. Hopper.

“An investigation revealed a large number of invoices had been paid for work either not done at all or for prices that were excessive.

“Hodge was exploiting, abusing his position to employ friends of his who overcharged or had not done the work at all.

“Hodge profited from kick-backs from those contracts.”

Stephen Thompson

Mains Contractors received £400,00 and SJ Thompson Plumbing received £130,000, claimed the prosecution when opening the case to the jury.

A third company, TWS Southern, run Jones, of Bullbeggars Lane, Godstone received £43,000.

Following the trial, Judge Nicholas Ainley estimated the fraud to amount to approximately a quarter of a million pounds. 

“Green was laundering some of the money generated in the fraud,” explained Mr. Hopper.

“She took payments into her Lloyds account from Main Contractors, SJ Thompson Plumbing and TWS. Her account was a buffer account.”

Two months after opening a bank account in February, 2010 Main Contractors began receiving payments authorised by Hodge.

“This company was set up with the prime purpose of receiving money from the NHS Trust.

“Allen was a figurehead, a front and the pair previously had a dialysis business for visiting tourists and had a property company.

“Some of the NHS money was used to pay for property developments.

“They were two men cooking up a scam to divert money from the NHS.”

Judge Ainley said of Hodge today: “He was simply giving his friends these contracts so that the contracts could be dishonestly manipulated.

“It seems to me at the very heart of this fraud is Alan Hodge. It could not have occurred without him.”

Restraining Order For "Intense" Ex

Wimbledon Magistrates Court

An “intense” boyfriend harassed his ex for a year via phone and computer after she split-up with him.

Eugenio Bartolo, 31, of Leathfield Road, Battersea now has a restraining order preventing him contacting the woman and must complete twelve months of probation supervision.

He denied, but was convicted of harassing the Tooting woman between April 1, last year and April 12, this year – forcing her to give evidence at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

During the trial the court heard Bartolo began talking about the couple living together after three months of dating and she broke-up with him.

She then began receiving text and WhatsApp messages from him, telling her she had made a mistake.

The victim was also forced to block him from her facebook account and then began receiving calls from a withheld phone number.

The phone conversations with Bartolo varied in length, with some lasting for hours and he would appear unannounced on her doorstep.

Eventually the victim agreed to meet him at a local coffee shop, where she told him once and for all they were finished.

She returned tickets for an ice skating event he sent her in November, last year and around the turn of the year felt he finally got the message.

However, on April 14, this year he sent her a package containing an A4-sized journal containing an account of how upset he was about their split.

Cards and photographs were also sent during the period and eventually the woman reported him to the police and he was arrested on May 12.

"F*** Judai" Synagogue Vandal Receives Suspended Prison Sentence

Pinner Synagogue

A vandal who spray-painted 'F*** Judai' on the outside wall of Pinner Synagogue has received a suspended prison sentence.

Homeless Kamil Malmon, 33, was caught on the synagogue's CCTV at 5.52am spraying the offensive words and was identified and arrested two weeks later.

He was convicted at Brent Magistrates Court of one count of religiously-aggravated criminal damage on June 10 and was sentenced to twenty-six weeks imprisonment, suspended for twelve months.

The court heard the synagogue's caretaker spotted the words and called the police, who took photos.

On June 28 a man on security duty called the police after identifying Malmon passing outside as the suspect caught on CCTV.

When stopped he denied the offence and told the officers: “Show me the evidence. I want to see CCTV.”

Malmon eventually conceded he was the suspect caught on CCTV, but denied spraying the offensive words.

However, the court viewed CCTV which clearly showed him removing something from his pocket and moving his arm in a spraying action directly outside the synagogue.

Malmon was also ordered to pay £620 court costs and a £115 victim surcharge. 

Ex Rugby Star Cleared Of Damaging Former Cop Neighbour's Fence

Innocent: David Pears

A retired senior Met detective has vowed to sue an ex-England rugby international, who damaged his new fence during a bitter boundary dispute.

Former Harlequins fly-half David Pears, 49, now an equities trader, admits he damaged the metal fence when pushing it back to the boundary behind his £1m Twickenham home.

Former Detective Chief Inspector William Kerans, 59, who had just paid £1500 for the fence, called 999 at 11pm on a hot night last summer and his neighbour was arrested.

However, Pears, of The Green was acquitted last week of causing criminal damage on July 7 after magistrates decided he did not intend to damage the fence he insisted was nine inches over his boundary.

“There was this sinister loud, repeated banging of an object coming into contact with metal,” Mr. Kerans, of neighbouring Albion Road told Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

“It was clear to me my wife was terrified, she was in a fragile, vulnerable state having returned home from hospital, where she had been under anaesthetic.”

He looked out of an upstairs window of his £840,000 semi and identified Pears and his wife Sally on the other side of his new fence.

“His body was repeatedly lunging against the fence and I simultaneously heard loud impact noises.

“He thrust forward and appeared to be taking running jumps to back up the sheer brute force.

"Under Attack": William Kerans

“I saw him raise both arms and attach both hands to a metal trellis on top of the fence and pull and viciously shake the trellis panels.”

Pears told the court he pushed the eight and a half feet high fence once to see if it would return to the original boundary, admitting he did dent it in doing so.

“I told the police I needed urgent assistance because my property was under attack,” added Mr. Kerans, who has had a decade-long dispute with the Pears’.

“The damage was extreme and gratuitous. I recorded nine impact points and the panels had been prised apart.

“I was extremely shaken up by the whole incident, it was a terrifying experience, I was traumatised.

“My wife was lying on the sofa in a state of catatonic shock.”

The fence repair quote is £1,509 and while the magistrates were deliberating Mr. Kerans revealed: “I’m suing him.”

When cross-examined he denied pursuing a “personal vendetta”, replying: “I’m not in the dock. The personal vendetta has been directed at my family and I.”

He also criticised Sally Pears. ”She was doing nothing to restrain her husband. She made no effort to do so, so as far as I was concerned this was a joint enterprise.

Sally & David Pears Arriving At Court

“She was doing nothing to stop her violent husband’s attack on my fence and terrorising my wife and I.”

In the morning Mr. Kerans claims he counted nine impact points on the fence and said a panel had been “torn open” and bent “top to bottom.”

The fence replaced a wooden one Pears had installed over two weekends, which Mr. Kerans objected to. “The defendant and his wife illegally erected a fence that encroached over our property.

“It strayed significantly, it zig-zagged and was of very poor quality.”

He sent Pears a letter accusing him of “arbitrarily and unilaterally” erecting a fence on his property, describing the action as “blatant, outrageous and illegal.”

The ex-detective told the court Pears’ wooden fence was “inadequate” and “not fit for purpose.”

Mr. Kerans only agreed to proceed with purchasing the house in 1995 after he was assured the fence was his, knowing how bitter boundary disputes can become.

However, the neighbours have also fallen out over trees in the Pears’ garden and the ex-rugby star reported Mr. Kerans to the police for allegedly chopping one down.

“That was a completely false and malicious allegation,” Mr. Kerans told the court. “It was preposterous.”

Playing Days

Pears said there was more trouble when he tried get a kitchen extension approved. 

“We found slanderous accusations on the council website from Mr. Kerans and over the years there have been threatening emails to myself.”

Pears’ defence team also suggested Mr. Kerans reported his neighbour’s arrest to his employers and to local newspapers at 5am the following morning.

He admitted staying up all night writing a statement about the incident, but did not admit reporting Pears to anyone, but the police.

Pears and wife Sally had just returned from their second home in north Yorkshire, even joking in the car about what they may find after two weeks away.

“Things usually happen when we are away,” he told the magistrates. “Trees get chopped and we were wondering if anything had happened.

“When we got home I found my fence had disappeared and there was a huge green fence tight against my summer house.

“The fence had been built in my garden. It was constructed on my patio area so I went up to it and pushed it to see if it would go back to the boundary.

“It made a loud noise. I pushed the fence one time and it made a bit of a noise.

“Looking at it afterwards there was a dent where I pushed it one time.”

He produced a surveyor’s report confirming the fence was intruding nine inches into his garden.

Wife Sally told the court she saw her husband push the fence twice after her told her: “Look what he’s done now.”

She added: “We’ve put up with threats for a decade, we’re use’d to it.”

The magistrates agreed the construction was an “unfamiliar fence” to Pears and he would not have known he could damage it so easily.

They found he did not intend to cause damage and was not reckless in doing so, finding him not guilty of the charge.

Cheque Fraudster Receives Suspended Sentence

Isleworth Crown Court 

A woman originally charged with twenty-three counts of cheque fraud against a single victim has received a suspended prison sentence.

Angela McIntyre, 55, of Longridge House, Rockingham Estate, Falmouth Road, Elephant and Castle was also ordered to pay £1200 compensation to the woman she defrauded.

She cashed cheques, usually worth £200, made payable to herself and signed by west London resident Gillian Morrison without the victim's knowledge.

At Isleworth Crown Court McIntyre received a twelve-month suspended prison sentence.

Jailbird On Prison Licence Nicked For Drugs Again

An ex-jailbird was caught by police throwing away a cannabis wrap as he cycled along the pavement.

Earl Robert Crisp, 42, has recently been released from a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for delivering drugs and will remain on licence until January.

Crisp, of Chatsworth Crescent, Hounslow pleaded guilty to possessing a small amount of cannabis in Library Way, Whitton on November 21.

Prosecutor Miss Mary Atere told Wimbledon Magistrates Court it was nearly 4pm when officers spotted Crisp illegally riding his bike on the pavement.

He tried to avoid another drug arrest by throwing the wrap, but it was recovered by police.

The court heard Crisp is surviving on £75-a week Tesco's vouchers and is living in temporary housing.

He says he started smoking cannabis a couple of years ago to help him during a bout of depression.

Crisp was conditionally discharged for twelve months and ordered to pay £30 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Woman Denies Chessington World Of Adventures Shoe Assault In Lift

A Leeds woman, accused of striking another woman over the head with a shoe during a row in a hotel lift, has appeared in court for the first time.

Katie O'Connor, 30, of Cross Heath Grove, Beeston claims she acted in self-defence.

She pleaded not guilty to assaulting Amy Bishop, causing her actual bodily harm, at the Safari Hotel, Chessington World of Adventures, south-west London.

O'Connor was bailed to return to Wimbledon Magistrates Court for an all-day trial on February 3, next year.

Prosecutor Miss Kerry Lingard told the court: “The defendant got into a lift the complainant was already in and there was a verbal altercation.

“It escalated with the defendant pulling the complainant's hair and hitting her on the head with a shoe heel, causing a small cut.”

The wound did not require stitches and was glued. 

Phone Caller Accused Of Sexually Explicit Messages

A gay Dorchester man, accused of making sexually-explicit nuisance phone calls to a homosexual friend, appeared in court for the first time yesterday.

Lee Jon Slater, 46, of Heathcote Close claims the calls were an innocent prank.

He pleaded not guilty to sending a communication of an indecent or offensive nature between July 18 and August 2 to estate agent Stephen Giddings, 57, of Ancaster Crescent, New Malden.

Slater was bailed to return to Wimbledon Magistrates Court for a trial on February 1, next year.

Prosecutor Miss Mary Atere told the court: “Numerous telephone calls were made to the complainant.

“On each occasion voice messages of a sexually-explicit nature where left and when he answered things like 'f*** me' were said a groaning noises made.

“The victim feels he was caused considerable distress and that he was being watched because calls were made as soon as he entered his home.”

Slater denies any malicious intent, claiming to know the complainant for twenty years, with both socialising with an openly-gay group of friends.