Tooting Midnight Rape: E-Fit Of Suspect Released

Police are hunting this suspected rapist after a woman was attacked just after midnight as she returned to her car in Tooting.

The woman – aged in her twenties – was approached in Lucien Road on September 21, last year.

The suspect forced the woman into an address before raping her - he then fled the scene.

This e-fit has been released in an attempt to trace him.

The suspect is described as a man of Asian appearance, between 20-25 years old, approximately 5ft 7inches tall and of slim build.

He had a thin moustache and was wearing glasses, a red hooded top and light coloured tracksuit bottoms.

The victim was taken to a Haven and is being supported by specialist officers.

Officers from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 020 8721 4251 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Prat In The Hat: Violent Thug Hunted For Savage Shop Sign Assault

Police are hunting for an impatient customer, who left a shopkeeper needing 13 stitches to a head wound, when struck with a metal sign.

Police in Hackney have released this image of a man they want to speak to in connection with the violent attack outside a Food and Wine shop in Kingsland Road.

The incident occurred at 3.35am on Monday, February 29, last year.

The thug hurled a metal cash sign at the 48-year-old victim after he refused to serve him ahead of other paying customers who were queuing.

The suspect had assaulted the victim inside the shop and was asked to leave.

When the victim followed him outside to make sure he left, he was struck with a metal cashpoint advertising board.

This left the victim with a serious laceration; he was bleeding profusely from the head as a result of the attack.

He was driven to an east London hospital by a friend where he received 13 stitches.

PC Jo Giles, from Hackney's Violent Crime Unit, who is leading the investigation, said: "This was a savage and unprovoked attack on a hard-working gentleman merely doing his job in the shop.

“He was struck with such force with the improvised weapon that his skull was exposed.

“It is extremely lucky that medical intervention was administered so promptly otherwise the consequences to the victim could have been fatal.

“We have exhausted all other enquiries and need the public's assistance."

Police want to hear from anyone who may recognise the man shown in the CCTV images or who witnessed the assault.

The male suspect is described as slim build, approximately late twenties or early thirties.

He has full dark coloured beard and moustache and short cropped hair on head.

He was wearing a black cape with a Burberry lining, red denim jeans and a dark grey trilby hat.

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigating officer PC Jo Giles or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Ex-Royal Navy Pensioner Jailed For Molesting Young Girl

Kingston-upon-Thames CC

A pensioner's south coast retirement dream is over after he was locked-up for four years for sexually abusing a young girl over a decade ago.

Gavin Rae, 77, of Old School Mews, Bognor Regis served in the Royal Navy for twenty years and was prosecuted for abusing the girl at an address in south-west London.

He was sentenced at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court.

Rae originally appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on May 21, 2015 charged with eight counts of indecent assault at an address in Northway, Morden between September 15, 1997 and September 14, 2003.

Disgraced Teacher Jailed Again For Sex Abuse

A disgraced sports teacher has been jailed again for molesting a young boy at the private west London school he taught at over two decades ago.

Michael David Cole, 52, of Cae-Yr-Ebol, Pontnewydd, Cwmbran, Gwent received twelve months imprisonment and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years.

He was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court after originally being charged with two counts of indecently assaulting a boy, aged under 14 years-old, between June 19, 1990 and June 18, 1991.

Six years ago he was locked-up for five years after being convicted of five counts of indecent assault at St. Martin's Prep School, Northwood.

He was employed at the all-boys school, which teaches children aged between 3 and 13 years-old, between 1988 and 1991.

Before that trial Cole, who also taught religious education, admitted 17 counts of child pornography.

He conducted phoney 'health checks' in his office, ordering the young boys to strip before touching them for his sexual pleasure.

Magician Get Suspended Prison Sentence For Whacking Girlfriend With Champagne Bottle

Magic Man: Marcus Lewis

A magician and hypnotist hit his girlfriend with a champagne bottle and made her police crime number disappear by eating it when she tried to call the police.

Marcus Anthony Lewis, 30, and Catherine Mallett, 26, rowed about the volume of each other’s respective music and messaging friends and ex’s.

Lewis, of Kipling Avenue, Worthing was convicted of causing Catherine actual bodily harm at her Shepherd’s Bush flat on July 14, last year and assaulting her again on July 18.

Lewis specialises in close-up magic and hypnosis and hires himself out as a professional ice-breaker for social events and is a youtube star for his street act.

Yesterday he received twelve weeks imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months and must complete up to forty days of a probation service-ordered rehabilitation programme.

He was also ordered to pay £620 costs, a £115 victim surcharge and was made subject to an indefinite restraining order prohibiting contact with Catherine.

The couple were together eight months and shared her flat in Frithville Gardens, but Catherine asked him to sleep elsewhere the night before the bottle assault.

“He did not like me messaging my friends and he had a message from his ex-girlfriend so we had a row about double standards,” she told Hammersmith Magistrates Court.

“He came back early and asked to talk, but I was going out and when I came back he put the latch on and essentially locked me out.”

Champagne Bottle: Catherine

Lewis says he was forced to spend the night at a 24-hour internet cafe and denies locking Catherine out or blocking the door.

“I banged on the wall and he let me in, but kind of closed the door on me before I got in. He was trying to be aggravating.

“I pushed him out of the way and he pushed me onto the sofa and got on top of me and pinned me down and with a clenched fist threatened to punch me.

“I managed to push him off or he might have got off. There was a wine glass on the coffee table and I threw it and it hit the wall and broke, I was making him go away.

“I kicked a bin bag in frustration and rubbish fell out and he had my phone that had fallen out of my pocket.”

Lewis says she threw the bin bag at him and the champagne bottle inside it struck his knee.

“I said I’d chuck his headphones out the window if he didn’t give me my phone,” Catherine told the court.

“He’d picked the champagne bottle from the floor and hit my elbow with it and I was rolling around the floor in absolute agony.

“He said: ‘You’re faking, I didn’t hit you that hard,’ and then started filming me with my phone, saying I was mental.”

The court watched footage of a bloody Lewis filming Catherine as she held the stem of the broken wine glass.

He could be heard saying: “Stop trying to stab me with the f***ing glass.”

Catherine said: “I didn’t slash him with the glass. He was picking the broken glass up off the floor and cut his fingers.

“I was in a hell of a lot of pain, he broke my arm.”

Catherine went to hospital, where the elbow injury was treated as if it was a break, but this was never confirmed. 

Lewis says she hit him with a shoulder bag and he swung the champagne bottle to fend off her attack.

Four days later there was another row about Lewis’s behaviour and a tense atmosphere afterwards, Catherine told the court

“I was on my laptop not talking to him so he took it off me and threatened to smash it.

“He then played music on his phone, then blue toothed it and put the speaker in my face as I tried to play my music. I don’t like his music.”

Catherine grabbed her police letter from the earlier incident, which escalated the row.

“He jumped on top of me and clawed the paper out of my hand that had the crime number and left a huge scratch.

“He got the piece of paper out of my hand and ate it and I left and called the police.”

Lewis claimed she was “taunting” him with the crime number and making threats to call the police.

In her victim impact statement Catherine said: “I’m ashamed and embarrassed and was worried about coming home.

“I lost a lot of sleep over this and feel the quality of my life has gone down.”

Magistrate Catharine Seddon told Lewis: “The more serious offence is the ABH, aggravated by a significant physical injury and caused by a weapon, a glass weapon, a bottle that could have caused much more serious injury.

“There was significant psychological harm to the complainant, who was left with a large degree of anxiety and there was a second incident some days later when you would have had time to reflect about this ABH.”

'Plastic Glassing' Nightclubber Needed Fifteen Stitches

Blood On The Dancefloor: Rhys Copas

A nightclub thug was jailed yesterday for using a plastic beer cup to inflict an ear wound requiring 15 stitches during a “violent and vicious assault” on another man.

Children’s football coach and tyre fitter Rhys Copas, 28, admits he “lost his temper” during the petty bar row in the early hours and is now starting a three-and-a-half year sentence.

Copas, of Meadfoot Road, Streatham pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, with intent, on Pritan Patel at Wimbledon’s The Watershed on March 19, last year.

CCTV footage shows Copas landing a final right-hander after a flurry of blows and an unknown male kicks the victim, who is doubled-over in an effort to protect himself.

Ironically the venue switched from glass to plastic cups to reduce the risk of such serious injuries.

In his victim impact statement Mr. Patel said: “I started a new job with an American company and had to meet its president with a black eye and scarring.

“When people take photos of me it is highlighted more and whenever I see myself in the mirror I see the scars and that is not how I want friends and family to remember me.”

Recorder Sarah Clarke QC told Copas, who was identified after a police appeal: “An argument seems to have developed over something minor and your reaction is a vicious and violent assault.

“You repeatedly punched him with the hand holding a hard perspex cup and then with your other hand.

“He suffered a laceration to his earlobe, which required fifteen stitches and that was caused by the perspex cup in your hand.

Copas Lands Blows

“Mr. Patel was still in pain two months later and still watches his back when he is out in public. You have taken that feeling of safety away from him.”

Copas had turned his life around after receiving thirty months youth custody in 2009 for his role with the notorious Terror Zone gang, which robbed security vans of nearly £1m.

He coaches Hackney Downs Rangers’ under-eight football team and Recorder Clarke told him: “It’s a tragedy you have thrown that away in the heat of the moment.

You are hardworking and an excellent role model to them and you are genuinely remorseful. It’s brave of you to admit to such a serious offence.

Copas’s lawyer Miss Cheryl Nwosu said: “He says he became angered about an issue concerning where he was standing at the bar.

“He says Mr. Patel was shouting expletives at him and Mr. Patel appears to put his hand in his drink. He lost his temper.”

Noisy Neighbour's Race Battle With Resident And Police

A noisy neighbour launched into a foul race-hate rant when asked to turn her music down and battled with police when they arrived, continuing her insulting behaviour after she was arrested.

Single mum-of-two Zoe Barnard, 33, of Cuffley House, Sutton Way, North Kensington shoved her neighbour and called her a: “White c***, white f***ing bitch,” and twice assaulted the same police officer.

She pleaded guilty to assaulting neighbour Janet Farmer on December 21, last year at Cuffley House, where she also pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment.

Trainee carpet fitter Barnard also pleaded guilty to assaulting PC Matthew Watson at Cuffley House and at St. Thomas's Hospital and racially aggravated harassment while being transported in the police van.

Hammersmith Magistrates Court heard today that neighbour Janet Farmer, who lives two floors below Barnard, couldn't even enjoy watching television with her partner because of the noise above.

She went up to ask the defendant to turn her music down and was told: “F*** off. You don't care my mum just died you bitch. Leave my f***ing door, f*** off.”

Barnard shoved her in the chest and Ms Farmer's partner jumped in between them and the couple returned home.

However, Barnard followed the pair and unleashed the racist abuse outside their flat.

They called the police and the court heard Barnard was “aggressive to the officers” and aimed a kick at PC Watson when she was being handcuffed.

She called one police officer a “n*****” during another racist outburst and collapsed to the floor at the police station.

Barnard claimed to have sickle cell syndrome and said: “I'm an actress. I'll get booked into a mental hospital.”

At the hospital she aimed a punch at the same officer she kicked out at and he managed to deflect the blow.

The court heard Barnard, who has daughters aged nine and eleven years-old, has a drink problem and a previous conviction for assaulting a police officer.

The magistrate told her: “This behaviour was absolutely unacceptable as you know.”

Barnard was placed on a 12-month community order with a 20-day rehabilitation requirement and must undergo a six-month alcohol treatment requirement.

She must also complete 60 hours community service work, pay £50 compensation each to Ms Farmer and PC Watson and pay an £85 victim surcharge.

Son Denies Collecting Deceased Mother's Benefits

A son kept his elderly mother’s death quiet for over a year while he continued receiving £17,000 in benefit payments on her behalf, a court heard yesterday.

Harold Davis, 62, was paid £1,049 per month by the London Borough of Barnet to fund care for his mother Beryl Davis.

However, following her death in a hospice on June 11, 2013 he continued receiving payments for fifteen months then lied about when she died, Harrow Crown Court was told.

Davis, of Nigel Court, Seymour Road, East Finchley has pleaded not guilty to fraud by failing to disclose information, namely his mother’s death and fraud by false representation, namely claiming she died on June 10, 2014.

Prosecutor Miss Thaiza Khan said Mrs Davis, of Greenacres, Hendon Lane, East Finchley received care support from the council’s Adult Social Services department.

“These payments continued for fifteen months after her death and this defendant failed to disclose his mother was deceased.

“He also made false representations about the date of his mother’s death. He gave a much later date to reduce what he had to pay back.”

The court heard Davis gave the false date only after a council review of their care payments in 2014.

An investigation of his bank accounts revealed he transferred lump sums of £5,000, then £8,000 to one he shared with his ex-wife.

Trial continues…………..

Suspected Telly Thief Caught On CCTV

A suspected television thief has been caught on CCTV carrying a large flat screen along the street

Police from Newham Borough investigating a burglary at a residential address have issued CCTV footage of a man they wish to identify and speak to in connection with the incident.

On Thursday, August 4, last year police were called at around 8.00pm to a report of a burglary at an address in Barking Road, Plaistow.

The burglary was reported to have occurred at some point between 4.00am and 7.00pm that day.

A black Samsung television was stolen from the property.

CCTV taken just before 5.00pm in Barking Road caught the suspect walk passed a commercial premises with a television matching the description of the one stolen.

The suspect is described as a bald, black man, wearing a short sleeve blue shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

He was seen with a tattoo on his left arm.

Police are keen to hear from anyone who may recognise the man shown on CCTV or who has information about the incident.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Wannabe Petrol Station Robber Hunted: CCTV Released

Police are hunting a wannabe petrol station robber, who fled empty-handed after being challenged by staff.

Officers in Barking and Dagenham, east London have released this CCTV image as they appeal for assistance to trace the man.

Police were called at approximately 7.30pm on Friday, September 2, last year to reports of an attempted robbery at a petrol station in Wood Lane, Dagenham.

The suspect, shown in CCTV taken from the petrol station, is a white man of slim build, aged in his late teens with blond hair.

He is wearing a black 'Raiders' cap and a black bag.

The man jumped over the counter and demanded cash, but fled empty handed when he was challenged by staff.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Anyone who recognises this man or who has information that could assist the investigation is asked to call police via 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Cleared: No Retrial For Morrisons Supermarket Assistant Manager

A Morrisons supermarket assistant manager, cleared of twice raping a female staff member in his office, will not be retried on a charge of molesting a checkout girl.

Yogesh Parmar, 38, had been accused of inventing reasons for the women to see him in the store’s office, where he closed the door behind them and pounced, the jury were told.

Parmar, of Glenavon Gardens, Slough denied and was unanimously found not guilty of two counts of raping the cash administrator at Morrisons, 113 Shepherd’s Bush Green in May and June, 2015. 

He also denied sexually assaulting the till operator the year before on November 1, 2014, but the jury failed to reach a verdict and he was originally scheduled to return for another trial on April 24.

However, yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on that remaining count and Parmar was found not guilty.

He told Isleworth Crown Court during the trial the rape complainant’s false allegations were made after he gave her a verbal warning and made her subject to internal disciplinary proceedings.

He said the second woman only lodged a complaint after he rebuffed her flirtatious advances and request for a lift home.

The rape complainant sadly died of cancer last year and the second woman no longer works at that particular store.

Landlord Denies Sexually Assaulting Female Tenant

A landlord accused of sexually assaulting his female tenant pleaded not guilty to the charge yesterday.

Michael Charles Millet, 53, of Brampton Grove, Hendon will return to Blackfriars Crown Court for a jury trial on September 11.

He pleaded not guilty to sexual assault by touching at the address in Marchmont Street, Saint Pancras on February 13.

Millet also denies one count of exposing himself outside the address.

Mail Order Entrepreneur's £31,000 Postage Fraud

An online trader, who exploited a Royal Mail loophole to enjoy £31,000 in free postage to his mail order customers, received a suspended prison sentence yesterday.

James Wakefield, 33, is the boss of several internet companies and continued using his Printed Postage Impression (PPI) account for free despite it being suspended for misuse.

Leeds-born Wakefield, who ran his businesses from an address in The Quays in the city’s Concordia Street had the account because of the large amount of packages he posted out.

The success of his companies, which sold products such as sunglasses and aromas allowed Wakefield to move into an apartment in City Lofts, Tabernacle Street in London’s trendy Shoreditch.

The Royal Mail depends on its PPI customers declaring the amount of postage they used and during the scam Wakefield did not pay a penny.

“There aren’t many areas of business where one may rely on the other to tell it that it owes maybe ten or hundreds of thousands of pounds,” said Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court Recorder Michael Holland QC.

“It’s quite an open system. One relies on one’s customers to tell them how much is owed.”

Wakefield pleaded guilty to making or supplying articles for use in fraud, namely PPI’s to his company Focus Online between July 30, 2014 and July 8, 2015.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining services dishonestly, namely the processing of £31,465 worth of postage between the same dates.

He received eighteen months imprisonment, suspended for two years and was ordered to pay a £15,000 fine and £20,743 cost as well as £1,465 compensation.

During the investigation Wakefield offered to compensate the Royal Mail in full.

Prosecutor Miss Sarah Selby told the court the Royal Mail asses the loss at nearer £101,000, but to prove otherwise is an “impossibility.”

“The system was exploited by this customer. The system is based on trust and the customer is required to inform the Royal Mail as to what type of mail they are posting, how much and the weight.”

In May, 2011 Wakefield’s PPI account was suspended, but he simply continued using it unchecked.

“He continued to use the suspended account number, how is not clear, but they were attached to his packages in large volumes.

“No payments were made in respect to his postage and he instructed his Leeds employees to process orders and use the PPI labels to send them out.”

A random spot check at a Leeds sorting office in November, 3013 prompted a surveillance operation and Wakefield was arrested on July 8, 2015.

His home and business premises were searched and investigators found as many as 168 aroma products had been mailed for free on one day.

“This was a concentrated and sophisticated effort by this defendant to defraud the Royal Mail.”

"I'll Bite Your F***ing Nose Off" Wolves Fan Told Steward

A Wolverhampton Wanderers FC fan, who was refused entry to an away game for being drunk, told the gate steward: “I'll bite your f***ing nose off.”

Self-employed engineer Glenn Firstbrook, 36, of The Knoll, Kingswinford, Dudley was arrested and missed his team's 3-1 win at Championship rivals Fulham FC.

At Hammersmith Magistrates Court he pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour towards Chirag Patel outside Craven Cottage on March 18.

Prosecutor Miss Arlene De Silva said: “He was refused entry at the turnstile and the steward took his ticket, saying he was too drunk.

The defendant replied: 'I'll bite your f***ing nose off,' and the police were alerted and he was arrested.”

Firstbrook insists he had nothing more than two pints of beer prior to the match and only reacted when the steward smirked at him.


He was questioned by police and said: “I just got a bit angry. It's the most ridiculous thing I have ever said.”

The first-time offender has been a Wolves season ticket holder for the last three seasons and between 1996 and 2005.

“He got very upset,” explained his lawyer Miss Annie Finn. “He was walking away, but when he saw the steward smiling, to use his words he: 'Lost it.'

“He does not usually drink at games and feels he has left himself and the club down as a representative.

“He has spent time in police cells and feels embarrassment and remorse.”

Firstbrook was conditionally discharged for twelve months and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Husband's Boozy Bust-Up With Police After Drunken Wife Hospitalised

A drunken recruitment consultant barged a policeman into a hospital wall while investigating the welfare his equally inebriated wife, who was found passed-out in a pub doorway with a cut eye.

Antony John Booth, 55, became aggressive and shouted at the officer: “You think you're a big man around here?” Hammersmith Magistrates Court heard yesterday.

Booth, of Cloonmore Avenue, Orpington also has a pied-a-terre Kensington apartment in exclusive Sheffield Terrace, where the couple were staying that night.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting Police Constable Jones at St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington on March 2 and was conditionally discharged for twelve months and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Miss Sara Ashkboos told the court: “Police were contacted by paramedics treating the defendant's wife, who had been arrested.

“It's said she assaulted a paramedic and had been found lying in the doorway of a pub in Kensington Church Street by a member of the public with an injury to her eyebrow.

“The defendant has approached the paramedics and tried to speak with his wife and he is described as obstructive,

“He tried to get into the ambulance a number of times as they tried to treat her injuries.

“He became aggressive with the paramedics.”

At St. Mary's the trouble continued. “He was told by the police he would be arrested if he did not leave.

“The police officer grabbed him by the collar and led him away and Mr. Booth began jumping up and down shouting: 'Do you see this police brutality?'

“He barged into the officer and the officer hit a wall and banged his head on the wall.”

Booth's lawyer Mr. Stuart Harris said: “He came home alone to find his wife had been put into a police ambulance and there was a police presence.

“He was told she was being taken to hospital and was under arrest, but was not told which hospital.

He was kept in the dark and was given no information about her injury and became frustrated by the situation.

He's grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged towards the exit and accepts his shoulder went into the officer who was knocked into the wall.

“He accepts he was drunk that evening.”

Mum Assaulted Her Sister During Bitter Custody Dispute Over Her Three Children

Guilty Plea: Clare Gregg

A Hartlepool mother-of-three, who lost custody of her children to her sister, assaulted her sibling during a confrontation about alleged abuse.

Clare Gregg, 55, of Stockton Road sought-out Kathryn McAdam-Freud near her £1.3m home in Peckham Rye, south London.

She pleaded guilty at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court to assaulting her sister on July 26, last year and was fined £180, with £450 costs, plus a £30 victim surcharge.

“I took off her glasses and shoved her, so guilty,” freelance writer Gregg told the court from the dock.

“My sister was the aggressor. My daughter was punched by one of the adults.”

Her three children, aged 12, 14 and 16 years-old, were placed into the care of Kathryn by the Family Court, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The CPS told the court a non-molestation order exists, restricting Gregg's contact with her sister until November 30, 2022.

Prosecutor Miss Izelda Gribbin said: “This is a case of domestic abuse, the complainant is the defendant's sister and has custody of her children.

“She went to the address to see her daughter and Ms McAdam-Freud's cleaner said she was ranting and raving.

“The complainant's concern was for the children and the defendant took her glasses off her face and grabbed her arm.

“She has the children legally and is giving them the best care she can.

“There was some contact with the children, but that stopped three years ago.

Clare Gregg arriving at court

“Police have been called on several occasions and this defendant displays this behaviour in front of the children.

“The complainant says this defendant turns up at the address uninvited, calling her a child kidnapper and a paedophile.

“She says she doesn't feel safe and does not know when the defendant will turn up.

“She says she would like to move around without fearing Clare Gregg can turn up at any time and feels she is being stalked.”

Gregg's lawyer Mr. Abdul Mojid told the court: “The three children were taken from her ten years ago.

“There have been family proceedings and it has had an impact on Clare Gregg and she went to the house to see her children.

“It's also been extremely expensive for her, making three visits to London.

“She disputes the origin of the family proceedings and the fact her children have been taken from her in the first place.”

Chalet And Riviera Owner Flouted Company Director Ban

The wealthy owner of a landmark Swiss chalet imported to the Thames riverside has been fined £35,000 for running a company while banned.

Myck Djurberg, 57, lives in a the listed authentic chalet, imported in 1882, and is the boss of Hampton Riviera Marina & Boatyard.

The chalet and marina was listed for sale for £13m last year.

Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court heard Djurberg – aka Salvadeor Priost – was disqualified from acting as a company director by the High Court on November 27, 2008.

However, he was originally charged that between November 29, 2008 and September 7, 2010 he was a director of Lord Moser plc.

The company was concerned with civil engineering and general building work, with Djurberg described as an architectural designer.

He has designed 32 houseboats, which he hopes to sell for up to £850,000 .

The court ordered him to pay £25,000 of the fine by April 17 or serve fifteen months imprisonment.

War Of Roses: Mum & Daughter Convicted Of Garden Row With Doctor Neighbour

Convicted: Rosa & Rebecca Rahman

A retired GP, who pruned roses overhanging his garden fence, was warned: ‘Cut my plants again and you will die,’ during a bitter dispute with mother and daughter neighbours.

Sri Lankan-born Dr. Mathiaparanam Sreetharan, 73, was told by the university graduate daughter: “People in this country have a garden. Where you come from is just mud huts and no garden.”

Rosa Rahman, 75, and her daughter, production manager Rebecca Rahman, 46, of Balham Park Road claim the doctor poured weedkiller on their cherished rear garden to deliberately kill plants by the boundary fence.

Rosa was convicted of assaulting Dr. Sreetharan with a push to the shoulder in his front garden on July 5, last year and was fined £75, with £150 costs and ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge.

Mum-of-one Rebecca, who attended London’s Guildhall University pleaded guilty to racially-aggravated threatening behaviour on June 30 and harassing the doctor between June 26 and August 23.

Dr. Sreetharan

She was placed on probation for twelve months and must complete 100 hours community service work. She was also fined £200, with £85 costs, with an £85 victim surcharge.

“I was clearing plants that had come onto my side of the property,” Dr. Sreetharan told Wimbledon Magistrates Court. “The neighbours were there shouting at me, very abusive language.”

The next day he found what he describes as the “death note” attached to his fence. “It was a shocking thing to observe.”

He audio recorded Rebecca’s “mud huts” comment on his phone, which also captured Rosa calling him a: “Bastard, coming here to bleed the country dry.”

Dr. Sreetharan, of Balham Park Road, explained: “They always talk at the top of their voice. I was really scared and was not sure if I was going to be attacked.”

He claimed they each had a brick in their hand, adding: “To save my life I drove to Tooting Police Station.”

The court did not find the women armed themselves with bricks outside their £750,000 house and cleared Rosa of a racially-aggravated charge in relation to her comment.

The former GP installed four CCTV cameras around his property and one was smashed with a metal spanner attached to the end of a long pole.

"Life's Work": Rahman Garden

Rosa’s shoved was captured on a worker’s phone. “She pushed my left shoulder and said: ’Nasty little man.’ I have pain in my shoulder and the pain was increased.

“Rosa also sprayed water and a hosepipe on me and my workers and once threw liquid from a washing-up bowl in my direction, but fortunately I jumped.”

The court cleared Spanish-born Rosa of harassment in relation to those allegations.

Dr. Sreetharan estimates the dispute has cost him £40,000, but was unable to produce any evidence. “It has caused me so much stress and trauma.

“My right wrist was also damaged cutting the thorny roses and my right knee gave way when running from my property to Wandsworth Police Station.”

Rosa told the court: “My life is the garden, I spent a lot of money on it and he started cutting everything he could reach. It’s my life’s work and he’s ruined everything.

“He was ruining my garden and I told him he was a horrible man. I was very angry, I just looked at my plants and cried.”

District Judge Barbara Barnes said: “This arises from a bitter neighbour dispute about plants and branches hanging over a fence and the dispute got out of hand last summer.

“The complainant was not a credible or convincing witness, unclear, rambling and confused. He was vague and at times obstructive and has exaggerated and embellished aspects of his evidence.

“I don’t find his account of being scared for his life or that these ladies came at him with bricks as plausible.”

Regarding Rosa she said: “I did not find her compelling either and she found difficulty admitting what she said, calling him a b****** and useless article.”