Black Cab Driver Convicted Of Imprisoning Channel 4 Correspondent During Heater Row

Helena Ebrahimi Recorded Row On Phone

A black taxi driver, who locked Channel 4 business correspondent Helia Ebrahimi in his cab and ran her over as she tried to film his id plate, has received a suspended prison sentence from a judge who described him as a “blustering bully.”

James Wilkinson, 57, received four months imprisonment, suspended for a year, and must complete 210 hours community service work.

He was also banned from driving for two years and must pay £1,000 compensation to Ms Ebrahimi.

Wilkinson rowed with the Iranian-born broadcaster, 39, about his cab’s heating and told her the police were already too busy: “Dealing with the likes of you,” on the same day as the Westminster terror attack.

Wilkinson, of Provender Mill, Belvedere Road, Faversham was unanimously found guilty of falsely imprisoning Ms Ebrahimi on March 22 and driving dangerously in Roger Street, Holborn.

Blackfriars Crown Court Judge David Richardson told the grandfather: “You had a trivial argument with Ms Ebrahimi because the heater in your taxi was not working.

“You said words to the effect of: ‘If you’re going to be like that you can get out’ and she asked to be let out of the taxi.

“Your reaction was to take her back to a side street and drop her off. You ignored her repeated requests to be let out.

“She asked over ten times to be let out of the cab and you ignored her.

“When she got out and stood in the v-shape of the door and cab filming your id plate you drove forward with the door open, causing her to fall to the floor.

“This caused an injury to her knee, to her leg and the flare-up of a condition to her back.

“She says you drove the cab backwards. She maybe is right, but I’m not sure she was right.

“You driving forward while she was in that obviously dangerous position caused her to fall, the danger was obvious.

“She could have been injured much more seriously than she was.

“You were a black cab driver, we trust our black cab drivers to keep their tempers and obey the law.

“You committed these offences against a woman in your cab on her own.

“You are a blustering bully and you would never have behaved like that if it was a man in your cab.

“You took the opportunity to bully someone standing up to you in your cab.

“You have shown an utter lack of remorse, suggesting the video evidence was somehow tampered with.”

The £1,000 compensation to Ms Ebrahimi was for falsely imprisoning her in the locked taxi. “Reflecting a short, but frightening period of loss of liberty.

“We take loss of liberty seriously in this country,” added the judge.

“You could have no complaint if I passed an immediate custodial sentence on you, but I have taken into account your loss of character and career.”

Wilkinson must also pass an extended driving test before his licence is restored.

A probation officer described diabetic Wilkinson as a “polite and social individual largely” who could do around 7 hours community service a week.

His lawyer Miss Shanthi Sivakumaran told the court Wilkinson has one son, a social worker, and one grand daughter and lives alone, paying a £1,500 per month mortgage.

He has now lost his £2,000 per month taxi job. “That is going to stop with immediate effect.

“He is concerned he has lost his livelihood snd is concerned about how losing his licence will impact finding a new job.

“He is very afraid he is going to lose his home and other assets he has.”

Judge Richardson told her at the conclusion: “I thought you represented a very unpleasant client extremely well.”

The jury took only approximately thirty minutes to convict first-time offender Wilkinson, who had not been suspended as a cabbie pending the trial.

Ms Ebrahimi told the jury it was just after 8pm when she hailed the cab outside her ITN office in Gray’s Inn Road to go to her Notting Hill home.

“I was asking the taxi driver if he could put up the heating,” she told the jury. “The air coming out of the vents was colder than the air in the taxi.

“He was saying the heating was already on and I said it couldn’t be on. He wasn’t accepting that there wasn’t heating.

“He became frustrated and said: ‘If you’re going to be like that you’d better get out.’

“I thought that was really unfair, it was a cold night, I had a half-an-hour journey and taxi’s are expensive.

“I was quite upset. I didn’t understand why he was so angry….Why he was taking it so personally.”

She recorded 90 seconds of the row on her phone, which was played to the jury, who heard her repeatedly pleading: “Can you let me out of the car please.

“I feel very much under threat. I don’t feel safe.” 

She told the court: “I said: ‘If you’re going to kick me out here, I’m not going to pay. It was only three or four pounds.

“At that point he told me: ‘Well I’m not going to let you out then. I’m going to take you where I got you. I’m going to take you to the police station.”

Wilkinson then did a u-turn. “He said: ‘Don’t you think the police will be busy on a day like this dealing with the likes of you.

“The ‘day like this’ was the Westminster attack, the terrorist attack. It seemed like a strange thing to tell someone.”

Earlier that day 52 year-old Khalid Masood killed four Westminster Bridge pedestrians he ran over in an van and stabbed to death PC Keith Palmer outside the House of Commons.

“I thought this had escalated to something I couldn’t even comprehend. I said: ‘Please let me out of the cab.’

“I couldn’t understand his motivation, it seemed a bigger threat. He started to say things like: ‘This country use’d to have good people. This city had class.’

“That seemed like a personal attack, that he had an axe to grind.

“I couldn’t open the doors. They were locked during this whole period.

“I thought: ’Should I climb out of the window? but that’s an idiot’s guide. I could break my neck, I was caught in a panic.”

She described Wilkinson’s behaviour as “sinister” and having a greater motivation than a lost fare.

“He called me a thief and when I pleaded that I was feeling unsafe he said he was feeling unsafe to.

“To me it seemed like an incredibly frightening situation. It felt like to me racist attacks, very personal.”

Wilkinson dropped her off near Gray’s Inn Road and can be heard on the recording shouting: “Get out of my cab!”

Ms Ebrahimi stood by the open door filming Wilkinson’s number. “As I was filming the car’s id plate the car went forward and came back and hit me and I went flying into the air.

“I was struck backwards about a metre and a half and fell on my right side.”

She called the police when a second taxi drove her home. “I had bruises on my knees and legs and a trapped sciatic nerve due to the fall on the lower part of my back.”

Ms Ibrahim is the former Senior City Correspondent at The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and was a journalist at the Mail on Sunday and CNBC.  

Polish Carer Was Bought Skimpy Outfits By Disabled Voyeur

Farhan Mian Says The CCTV Was For Security

A young female Polish carer to a severely disabled man, who secretly filmed her topless as she sat on the edge of her bed, told a jury he asked her for sexual favours and bought her skimpy outfits.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient Farhan Mian, 32 - who needs 24 hour care - hired Eastern European women and recorded them showering and undressing at his flat, isleworth Crown Court heard.

Mian was able to operate three cameras in his White City flat in Banstead Court via a computer, which allowed him to zoom in and rotate them 360 degrees.

Two cameras were pointed at the carers’ bed in their private room and their shower, the third was in Mian’s room and there was a fourth short-lived camera hidden in a Playboy Bunny’s eye in their bedroom.

He has pleaded not guilty at Isleworth Crown Court to six counts of voyeurism for the purpose of sexual gratification between 2011 and 2015.

Mian says his nephew installed the cameras as a security measure after he was a victim of a theft and they were not for any gratification.

He can only move his tongue and right thumb and is usually bed-bound, but can operate a computer to communicate and is transported to court in a wheelchair that also assists his breathing.

The woman told the court: “He often talked about sex and I didn’t like that.

“He talked about his past relationships and what he did with the girls, showing me his sex toys and making sexual jokes.

“He told me that he had some sexual relationships with carers in the past.

“Some of the carers were also like his girlfriend and some of them did some extras for him.”

She told the court he was keen for her to assist him pleasuring himself. “He was telling me that when he has a shower sometimes he pays extra if someone helps him with a hand.

“He said he’d buy me pyjamas and I said make sure they have long sleeves and trousers, but when they arrived he had ordered a top with straps and very short shorts.

“He said: ‘I’ll get you a swimming costume so you can wear it when you shower me.’

‘I refused to wear it because it was two small pieces attached with string.”

Police were called and found the recordings after another carer, who had only been there five days, found a secret camera on September 3, 2015.

Trial continues.........

Channel 4 Business Correspondent Relives Black Cab Ordeal

Helia Ebrahimi Leaving Blackfriars Crown Court

A black taxi driver locked Channel 4 business correspondent Helia Ebrahimi in his cab during a row over the heating and later ran her over as she tried to film his id plate on her phone, a court heard yesterday.

James Wilkinson, 57, allegedly told the Iranian-born broadcaster, 39, the police were already too busy: “Dealing with the likes of you,” on the same day as the Westminster terror attack.

Wilkinson, of Provender Mill, Belvedere Road, Faversham has pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning Ms Ebrahimi on March 22 and driving dangerously in Roger Street, Holborn.

She told Blackfriars Crown Court it was just after 8pm when she hailed the cab outside her ITN office in Gray’s Inn Road to go to her Notting Hill home.

“I was asking the taxi driver if he could put up the heating,” she told the jury. “The air coming out of the vents was colder than the air in the taxi.

“He was saying the heating was already on and I said it couldn’t be on. He wasn’t accepting that there wasn’t heating.

“He became frustrated and said: ‘If you’re going to be like that you’d better get out.’

“I thought that was really unfair, it was a cold night, I had a half-an-hour journey and taxi’s are expensive.

“I was quite upset. I didn’t understand why he was so angry….Why he was taking it so personally.”

She recorded 90 seconds of the row on her phone, which was played to the jury, who heard her repeatedly pleading: “Can you let me out of the car please.

“I feel very much under threat. I don’t feel safe.” 

She told the court: “I said: ‘If you’re going to kick me out here, I’m not going to pay. It was only three or four pounds.

“At that point he told me: ‘Well I’m not going to let you out then. I’m going to take you where I got you. I’m going to take you to the police station.”

Wilkinson then did a u-turn. “He said: ‘Don’t you think the police will be busy on a day like this dealing with the likes of you.

“The ‘day like this’ was the Westminster attack, the terrorist attack. It seemed like a strange thing to tell someone.”

Earlier that day 52 year-old Khalid Masood killed four Westminster Bridge pedestrians he ran over in an van and stabbed to death PC Keith Palmer outside the House of Commons.

“I thought this had escalated to something I couldn’t even comprehend. I said: ‘Please let me out of the cab.’

“I couldn’t understand his motivation, it seemed a bigger threat. He started to say things like: ‘This country use’d to have good people. This city had class.’

“That seemed like a personal attack, that he had an axe to grind.

“I couldn’t open the doors. They were locked during this whole period.

“I thought: ’Should I climb out of the window? but that’s an idiot’s guide. I could break my neck, I was caught in a panic.”

She described Wilkinson’s behaviour as “sinister” and having a greater motivation than a lost fare.

“He called me a thief and when I pleaded that I was feeling unsafe he said he was feeling unsafe to.

“To me it seemed like an incredibly frightening situation. It felt like to me racist attacks, very personal.”

Wilkinson dropped her off near Gray’s Inn Road and can be heard on the recording shouting: “Get out of my cab!”

Ms Ebrahimi stood by the open door filming Wilkinson’s number. “As I was filming the car’s id plate the car went forward and came back and hit me and I went flying into the air.

“I was struck backwards about a metre and a half and fell on my right side.”

She called the police when a second taxi drove her home. “I had bruises on my knees and legs and a trapped sciatic nerve due to the fall on the lower part of my back.”

Ms Ibrahim is the former Senior City Correspondent at The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and was a journalist at the Mail on Sunday and CNBC.  

Trial continues……….. 

Alleged Vandal Wanted For Damaging Door At Ex-Deputy PM Nick Clegg's Putney Home

A local man accused of damaging a door at the £2.1m home of Former Deputy Prime minister and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg is now being hunted by police.

Ricky Broom, 33, of Upper Richmond Road, Putney, failed to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates Court after receiving a postal requisition.

A warrant without bail was issued for his arrest.

He is charged with one count of causing criminal damage to a door on October 15 in Parkfields, Putney.

No more details were given.

It is the family home of Mr. Clegg, 50, his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez and their three sons. 

The former MP lost his Sheffield Hallam seat after 12 years in this year’s general election.

He was Lib Dem leader between 2007 and 2015.

Magistrate Mr. David Simms announced: “We have no information as to Mr. Broom’s whereabouts so we feel a warrant without bail is necessary and proportionate in the circumstances.”

Drunken Plane Passenger's Bomb Threat

A dunken agitated passenger triggered an emergency after shouting: "Watch him he's got a bomb," when his Qantas plane landed at Heathrow Airport.

Merchant Navy First Officer Laurentiu Streaja, 36, was returning home to Romania following his vessel's journey to New Zealand and was locked-up for a month until his sentencing this week.

There had to be a lock-down of the A380 jet, which had taken-off in Dubai, with no passengers allowed off until a thorough search was completed.

Streaja pleaded guilty to being drunk on board the plane and making a bomb hoax on the September 30, flight.

Uxbridge Magistrates Court remanded him in custody on October 2, where he remained until this Monday's hearing at Isleworth Crown Court.

The court heard Streaja was "agitated" after the plane landed and kept getting out of his seat, despite warnings from cabin crew to remain seated.

He shoved the crew member into another passenger and shouted: "That man's got a bomb. Watch him he's got a bomb."

Streaja had got drunk on red wine during the flight and said he remembered nothing about the incident when questioned by police.

He has served in the Romanian Navy and is now second in command to the ship's captain in his current job, sailing container vessel's all over the world.

Streaja's lawyer told the court of the married dad: "This could have an absolutely devestating effect on his career and his family.

"If he goes to prison that will be the end of his current contract."

His six-month work stint had ended in Auckland and he had been travelling for twenty-seven hours without sleep when he was arrested.

Streaja admits he tried to drink himself to sleep with red wine.

Judge Andrew McDowall told him: "People who get drunk on an aircraft can cause a great deal of trouble and distress although this was in the last stages of the flight that you were misbehaving.

"I don't know what effect this will have on your career, but I'm sure it won't help it."

Streaja was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, suspended for two years. 

Severely-Disabled Man Recorded Naked Carers On Secret CCTV Cameras

A disabled man watched his naked young female carers on secret spy cameras, even recording one performing an x-rated live bed show for him with the aid of a sex toy, a court heard yesterday.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient Farhan Mian, 32 - who needs 24 hour care - hired Eastern European women and recorded them showering and undressing at his flat, the jury were told.

Mian was able to operate three cameras in his White City flat at in Banstead Court via a computer, which allowed him to zoom in and rotate them 360 degrees.

Two cameras were pointed at the carers’ bed in their private room and their shower, the third was in Mian’s room and there was a fourth short-lived camera hidden in a Playboy Bunny’s eye in their bedroom.

He has pleaded not guilty at Isleworth Crown Court to six counts of voyeurism for the purpose of sexual gratification between 2011 and 2015.

Mian says his nephew installed the cameras as a security measure after he was a victim of a theft and they were not for any gratification.

He can only move his tongue and right thumb and is usually bed-bound, but can operate a computer to communicate and is transported to court in a wheelchair that also assists his breathing.

Police were called and found the recordings after another carer, who had only been there five days, found a secret camera on September 3, 2015.

Prosecutor Mr. Tim Starkey told the jury three young women, from Poland and Latvia, were hired by Mian, who is funded by the NHS to arrange his own care.

The first carer was employed between 2010 and 2012. “The camera is pointed towards her and follows her to the shower and zooms in.

“She was unaware she was being filmed and did not consent.”

Another seven recordings were found on Mian’s computer, including her undressing, using the toilet and intimately shaving herself.

In June, 2011 she returned after a two-week break. “She saw two Playboy Bunny’s attached to her bed and one of the eyes was a camera.”

“She complained and Mr. Mian said words to the effect of: ‘It’s my property, I can do what I want.’

“She was upset and he offered to pay her three thousand pounds to keep quiet about the camera.”

The woman called the police, but she did not make a statement and there was no further action.

The second woman worked for Mian between 2011 and 2016. “He offered her cash to masturbate in front of him.

“He recorded her in his bedroom, where she undressed and had a sex toy and went to kiss him.

“She lay on his bed and stroked her vagina with her fingers, but did not consent to him recording her doing this.”

Police found recordings of the third woman, who was employed for fourteen months from January, 2015, sitting on her bed stripped to the waist.

“She said it must have been just after she had taken a shower and said Mr. Mian frequently spoke to her in a sexually inappropriate way.

“He bought her a bikini to wear when she showered him and bought her a short Ann Summers dress.

“He said his carers often gave him ‘extras’ which she took to believe as sexual favours.”

Mr. Starkey added: “The cameras were installed specifically with the purpose to allow these acts of voyeurism to take place.

“He told the police he was a victim of theft and got his nephew to install the cameras.”

However, the jury were told some of the recordings were made before his claim a Bulgarian carer stole £300 from him in 2014.

Trial continues…………  

Off-Duty BA Employee Denies Groping Sleeping Passenger During Long-Haul Flight

Speak: Denies Grope

A drunken off-duty British Airways cabin crew employee groped a sleeping business-class passenger after catching the man’s eye on a long-haul flight to Bangkok, a court heard.

Paul Speak, 47, is accused of touching the man between the legs at least twice and dramatically fainting on board the BA plane when the complaint was reported to him. 

“I believe I said: ‘What the f*** are you doing? Stay away’,” the passenger told Isleworth Crown Court.

Travelling alone, the man claims he caught Speak looking at him earlier. “It was a stare straight to me and a smile.”

He recalled three touches as he dozed in his seat. “The first time was the feeling of a light breeze on my thigh.

“I felt it again and saw the same guy walking back to his seat. “It was a light touch on my thigh, the inner thigh.

“Something happened again and I caught the hand. It was in the crotch area.”

The passenger says his penis was touched above his clothing.

“He mumbled and stumbled. I saw embarrassment on his face, shocked that he had been caught.

“I think that he might have been drunk.”

Prosecutor Miss Kathy Hirst told the jury: “The complainant, who was travelling alone, noticed another gentleman in a distinctive pink shirt walked down the aisle and ‘clocked’ him.

“There was eye-contact and he held his gaze.”

She said the the first incident occurred four hours after taking off from Heathrow, with Speak, a BA employee, using his staff points to fly.

“On two occasions the complainant says he was touched above clothing on his penis.

“He was woken by someone running his hand over his thigh area, near his crotch.

“He raised his eye mask and saw the man in the pink shirt retreating.

“It happened again forty minutes later. The hand went up towards his waistband and it seemed to be prolonged.

“He saw the same man in the pink shirt walking up the aisle.”

The passenger reported Speak to the cabin crew and a member of staff spoke to the defendant.

“It was obvious to her he was drunk and she told him a complaint had been made.

“His eyes rolled and he fainted and fell to the floor.”

Speak, who denies touching the passenger, was questioned by police on his return to the UK.

“He disputed he assaulted the complainant and accepted he was wearing a pink shirt.

“He said he forgot to take his medication for high blood pressure and had a few drinks before take-off and took a sleeping pill.

Speak, of Hawkes close, Langley, Slough has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault on October 12, last year.

Trial continues……….

Park Rapist Who Pounced On 17 Year-Old Girl Gets Life

A rapist, who befriended a 17 year-old girl in a park after asking her for a cigarette light, has been caged for a minimum of sixteen years.

Otis Morrow, 38, of High Road, Leyton persuaded the youngster to assist him moving items in nearby Jubilee Park, where he raped her in a secluded area.

Snaresbrook Crown Court placed him on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely when passing a life sentence.

The court heard that at 7.12pm on Wednesday, April 19, police were called by the girl, who was found in the park in a distressed and dishevelled state.

She said Morrow approached her in the park and asked for a light for a cigarette.

They both sat together and talked and he asked her to assist him with moving some items in the park, which she agreed to.

Once they were in a secluded area of the park, Morrow pushed the teenager to the floor, sexually assaulted her and then raped her.

Detectives from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command attended and were able to identify Morrow from her description.

Two hours later Morrow was arrested and taken to an east London police station where he was charged.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Henry Marshall, said: “This was a horrible attack on a girl who innocently wanted to help Morrow when he asked for help.

“He abused her trust, deceived and then caused her further physical and psychological harm.

“I hope the sentence served will allow her to move on with her life and be a warning to those intent on causing harm to others.”

Late-Night East London Assault: Race Attack?

Police are hunting a thug who battered this victim outside a Marks & Spencer's in east London.

Police were called to George Lane, Woodford at 2.08am on October 22 after the 30 year-old man was found unconscious.

He had suffered serious head injuries and was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital.

The suspect, a five-foot, seven inch tall black male was last seen leaving in a grey car after walking towards South Woodford Station.

He had short hair that was longer on top and was wearing a dark top and dark-coloured jeans.

A group of teenagers - who were standing nearby - are believed to have recorded the attack on their phones before driving off in a black car.

Police are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information to call the East Area Reactive Investigations Unit via 101 or tweet @MetCC.

Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Nanny Who Downloaded Indecent Pics Of Kids Back In Court

A children’s nanny, who downloaded child porn images, was was told by a Crown Court judge today to attend a Probation Service meeting.

Elliana Ede-Borrett, 23, of Sumner Road, Croydon, who says she was prompted by an unknown person to obtain the sick images, was bailed to return on November 10.

She appeared at Inner London Crown Court, where the judge told her: “You must co-operate with the probation service and get to the meeting and get this report prepared.”

When she returns the court should have completed pre-sentence and psychiatric reports.

Ede-Borrett had already pleaded guilty at her first appearance at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court to three counts of making indecent images of children between September 23, 2015 and May 3, last year.

These relate to 12 Category A images - the most serious - 18 Category B images and 17 Category C images.

The first-time offender has lived in a hostel for vulnerable adults since her arrest in May, last year.

None of the images relate to the children she was looking after.

Pensioner Neighbour-From-Hell Flooded Downstairs Flat During Dispute

A violent neighbour-from-hell pensioner has been convicted of deliberately flooding her long-suffering partially-sighted downstairs neighbour by overflowing her kitchen sink.

Susanne Crew, 71, damaged the floors and walls of Marc Costantini, 55, during a long-running feud.

She has now effectively been sentenced by a court to a ban on overflowing the kitchen sink at her flat in Cranes Park, Surbiton.

Crew was convicted at Wimbledon Magistrates Court of two counts of causing criminal damage to Mr. Costantini’s flat on August 7 and April 14.

She was also convicted of harassing Mr. Costantini between April 9 and April 14 by stamping on her floor day ad night, flooding him and keeping her TV on at a loud volume.

Crew was also found guilty of causing criminal damage to a cell mattress she urinated on at Kingston Police Station on August 7.

The convictions put her in breach of a conditional discharge she received on February 17 at the same court for assaulting Mr. Costantini, who she punched in the face with a bunch of keys.

Crew shouted: “I’m innocent,” from the dock yesterday as prosecutor Mr. Ciaran Cronin told the court Mr. Costantini called the police on April 14.

“They observed water coming down from the flat above and went up and observed that Crew had put the plug in the kitchen sink and water was spilling over and down to Mr. Costantini’s flat.

“She was asked to turn the water off and she said she liked to turn on the taps to annoy Mr. Costantini.

“She would put the taps on at various different hours she told the police and would turn the TV up loud.”

Police were called again by Mr. Costantini on August 7. “There was the same overflowing sink and water going down to his flat causing damage to the wall and carpet below.”

They arrested Crew, who told police: “I did what I did because he’s up to no good downstairs.”

She urinated on her cell mattress at the police station. “She said: ‘I don’t like using the loo’s here because other people have used them.’

“In August, last year she knocked on Mr. Costantini’s door and hit him in the face with a set of keys.

“He sustained a graze to his left cheek and she shouted that she was going to have him because he turned the TV up.

“She told him: ‘Next time I’ll turn up with a knife.’

“On an earlier date she hit his front door with a broomstick, causing minor damage.”

Crew shouted from the dock: “Lies! He assaulted me badly. I’ve her assaulted anyone in my life.”

Her lawyer Mr. Ovais Kadri told the court: “She does continue to deny the charges. She has a fragile disposition.

“She is proud of her flat, she’s had a flat there for a long time.”

Deputy District Judge Abdel Sayed said: “She’s made the complainant’s life a misery and breached the conditional discharge.

“I think there is a big risk of this continuing.

“These are very serious incidents. This is escalating, increasing in frequency.

“His enjoyment of his property is seriously undermined.”

The judge sentenced Crew to a twelve-month community order with a prohibited activity requirement, namely not to overrun her taps or contact Mr. Costantini.

She was also fined £50, with £100 costs and ordered to pay an £85 victim surcharge and pay the police £126.96 for the damaged blanket.

Barrister Porsche Tragedy: Driver Charged

Michael Sunnooman

A property investor, charged over the death of 64 year-old barrister David Batcup, who was struck by a Porsche as he left a legal charity gig, appeared in court for the first time today.

Michael Sunnooman, 52, of Deal Road, Tooting was bailed unconditionally by Wimbledon Magistrates Court to appear at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing on November 22.

He indicated a not guilty plea to one charge of causing death by dangerously driving a white 3.4 litre Porsche 911 in Bedford Hill, Balham on September 13, last year. 

Part-time judge Mr. Batcup had just left the Law Rocks battle-of-the-bands event at the Bedford pub, where staff from firms including Harbottle and Lewis, Mishcon de Reya and 1ITL performed.

He was struck at 10.18pm and thrown twenty feet as he crossed the road and was pronounced dead at the scene

David Batcup

The 16 year-old vehicle, worth around £18,000, was found abandoned nearby.

Mr. Batcup worked for over thirty-five years in criminal courts on high-profile cases including murder, money-laundering, drug dealing and sexual abuse.

He graduated from University College London and was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1974, where he retied from role of head of chambers in 2000 to take up his Crown Court judge role.