Murder Trial: 'Law Graduate Stabbed Boyfriend To Death'

Blaze Wallace & Sam Mayo

A law graduate with ambitions to be a human rights lawyer plunged a kitchen knife into her boyfriend’s heart when he stormed out of their flat after another row, a court heard yesterday.

Blaze Lily Wallace, 28, fatally wounded Samuel Mayo, 34, after following him from their Mortlake, south-west London home, Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court was told.

She graduated from St. Mary’s University, Twickenham with a law degree in 2017 and at the time of her arrest was studying her Masters in Human Rights & Legal Practice at the University of Roehampton.

However, the couple had a stormy drug-fuelled relationship and an upstairs neighbour heard Mayo shouting: “I’m done with you, you’re nasty,” minutes before he was killed.

Wallace has pleaded not guilty to Murdering Mr Mayo and possessing an offensive weapon, namely a kitchen knife, in Lower Richmond Road on July 18, last year.

Prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC told the jury the couple had been living together six months.: “They were in a relationship and had been living together in her one-bedroom flat in Mullins Path, Mortlake.

Sam Mayo & Blaze Wallace

“It seems to have been a volatile relationship, characterised by frequent arguments.

“The pair had been arguing on the day of Mr Mayo’s death and it seems he had decided enough was enough and he packed a bag and left at about 9.30 that evening.

“He can be traced on CCTV cameras, following a route away from Mullins Path and towards Mortlake centre and Ms Wallace followed him.

“She can be traced on the same cameras, following the same route, but six minutes behind him.

“A camera pointing onto Lower Richmond Road, from the entrance of the Stagg Brewery captured the pair together, walking past at a few seconds before 9.45pm.

“The defendant had clearly caught up with her intended victim and they disappear off camera to the left of the screen.

“The incident is not captured on CCTV footage, but in just under thirty seconds Mayo appears back on screen and he is now fatally injured.

“He can be seen to run into the road and back onto the pavement on the other side of the road, where he collapsed and died.”

The prosecutor said it was significant Wallace was wearing a heavy cardigan on one of the warmest nights of the year, but had discarded it when her image was captured on CCTV at 11.00pm.

The CCTV footage before the stabbing captured her with he right arm fixed to her side, with her hand seemingly in her pocket, the jury were told.

“It is the Crown’s case that the defendant had a large kitchen knife concealed at her right side. She took it out and stabbed Mr Mayo once, straight into his heart,” explained the KC.

“We say this was intentional and with no lawful reason and the defendant’s intention at the time was to kill her boyfriend, or at the very least to cause him really serious harm.”

Wallace admits she followed her skinny eight-stone boyfriend while armed with the knife and stabbed him, but will claim self-defence.

Mayo ran into the middle of the road, shouting for an ambulance and collapsed by a garden wall and was assisted by passing motorist Anais Tolfree.

“She describes his breathing as being shallow and she tried to speak with him, however did not get any response,” said Ms Bickerstaff. 

“Another member of the public was crouched down by the male talking to him and also received no response.”

Mayo bled to death at the scene and when police arrived at 9.57pm they immediately recognised him as a local drug user, who regularly begged outside Tesco’s and Mortlake train station.

He was taken to Kingston Hospital and pronounced dead at 10.33pm.

Officers arrived at Wallace’s home at 1.00am and meanwhile she had packed a rucksack and got on a train and then an Uber, but ended up back at her address.

“They found her behaving rather oddly. Despite what we now know had just happened the defendant said not a word to the police about knowing Mr Mayo had been stabbed, nor about her involvement.

“She is described as being evasive and hostile towards the police and was typing on a laptop and said she was on Facebook Messenger to their father.

“She refused to show police the messages and shut down and locked the computer.”

Wallace told the officers she had an argument with her boyfriend and last saw him at Mortlake station at around 10.00pm.

Despite giving her no details about Mayo’s death Wallace asked the officers: “Did he get stabbed? Did he get murdered?”

Wallace continued to act strangely, asking the police if they were genuine officers and pursuing repetitive questions and suggesting some mystery person had got into her home, the jury heard.

“You can infer from this that her behaviour was a deliberate ruse,” the prosecutor told the jury. “She knew full well that Sam had been stabbed because the evidence and her admission is she was the one who did it.”

A train passenger, Stephanie Slater, witnessed the couple “having a domestic” just before 6.30pm that day at Mortlake station, describing the female as the aggressor and the male trying to defend his position.

A neighbour, Patricia Blake, also heard Wallace shouting at Mayo that day. “The female spoke in a really vitriolic, vicious tone and the male seemed to be the appeaser.,” explained the prosecutor.

Another train station witness, Iain Main, described Mayo as the aggressor, believing the couple were either drunk or on drugs as they argued publicly.

An upstairs neighbour heard Mayo shout shortly before he was stabbed: “I’m done with you, you’re nasty,” as he left the address with some belongings.

Moments before the stabbing a Mortlake Green resident heard an aggressive female shouting: “I just want to talk to you. Ah, the real Sam is coming out now.”

A Lower Richmond Road resident, Christopher Simpson, heard some of Mayo’s last words, shouting: “Please Liz!” up to eight times and: “I love you, please Liz. Please Liz, I love you.”

“The clear inference therefore is that Sam Mayo was saying: “Please Blaze,” and it was misheard as Liz,” explained Ms Bickerstaff. 

A post mortem revealed a 4cm stab wound had penetrated Mr Mayo’s heart, causing rapid blood loss and shock.

Traces of heroin, cocaine and cannabis were found in his blood and the same drugs were found in Wallace’s urine, plus methadone.

The only recently-cleaned kitchen knife found at her home was consistent with the type of blade that caused the fatal injury.

“The obvious inference is that the knife had just been cleaned to remove any evidential traces,” added Ms Bickerstaff.

She had also prepared a half-packed black bag near her front door, containing her passport, birth certificate and some food.

Over the next three days police interviewed Wallace four times and she answered “no comment” to all questions.

The trial is expected to last three weeks. 

Bigmouth Strikes Again: Drug Bust At East Croydon Station

Police alerted to drug activity at East Croydon railway station caught a local man with wraps of cocaine and heroin hidden inside his mouth.

Jake jones, 31, of nearby Lansdowne Road failed in his attempt to swallow the drugs and is now starting a twenty-six week prison sentence.

On the afternoon of September 21, last year plain clothes British Transport Police (BTP) officers at the station overheard a man loudly announcing he was going to purchase drugs.

Just outside the station the officers saw the man meeting Jones, who then disappeared out of sight. 

He reappeared after a few minutes as he exited a black car.

Suspecting a drug deal had taken place the officers stopped Jones and asked to see inside his mouth.

He attempted to swallow numerous wraps of drugs, but they were able to recover them before he did so.

The wraps were analysed, and the contents were identified as heroin and cocaine.

At Croydon Magistrates Court Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of Class A drugs.

PC Chris Green said: “Our violent crime task force patrols the London network in plain clothes every day to deter a wide range of criminal activity, including drug supply.

“Whether you see us or not, we’re there pursuing offenders and ensuring the public are safe as they travel.

“If you spot anything on the railway that seems unusual or suspicious, we’d like to hear about it. Report it to us using our 61016 text-to-report service.”

Tube Pervert Hunted By BTP

Wankee Doodle Dandy: Police Suspect

Transport cops are hunting a tube train pervert, who pleasured himself on the platform in full view of disgusted passengers.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released this CCTV image of their suspect, who was wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap.

Officers are requesting the assistance of members of the public to help identify him.

A London Underground passenger departed a Northern Line train at Charing Cross station at approximately 6.00pm on April 20 when they spotted a male masturbating.

Other witnesses and passengers reported the unknown male had been doing this for between ten and fifteen minutes.

Officers believe the man in the CCTV images may have useful information which could help their investigation.

If you recognise him or have any other information please contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 674 of 20/04/23. 

Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Houseguest Accused Of Groping Mum And Three Young Daughters

A Pinewood Film Studios audio editor groped a married mother and three of her daughters while a houseguest during renovations to his £1m home, a court heard today.

University of Chester graduate Harry Trevithick, 33, denies sexually assaulting the middle-aged mum and the girls aged 17; 15 and 12 years-old.

Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court was told married Trevithick and his wife Lily stayed in the annexe of the family’s £1.9m six-bedroom Putney home during a loft extension at their Battersea property.

He has an assistant editor credit for TV series ‘Zapped’, plus sound department credits for video games Hitman 2; Total War: Three Kingdoms and The Division 2.

Prosecutor Richard Jory KC told the jury the 15 year-old daughter revealed to her mother on August 16, 2019 that Trevithick’s behaviour the night before troubled her.

“She told her mother he followed her around the house and touched her and offered her alcohol and tried to kiss her when she was alone with him.

“The parents arranged a meeting to discuss this with him and confront him about it, plus the mother saying she had also been touched.”

Trevithick and his wife moved out of the annexe and six months later the parents told the 12 year-old what happened.

“The girl ran out of the room in tears and told her mother of an incident in her bedroom when the defendant came upstairs, sat on her bed and touched her thigh,” explained the KC.

The 17 year-old daughter then also came forward and said Trevithick touched her and the police were in formed.

He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting the mother; one count of sexually assaulting the 17 year-old; three counts of sexually assaulting the 15 year-old and one count of sexually assaulting the 12 year-old.

The charges relate to between January 1, 2017 and September 1, 2019 and include incidents before Trevithick moved into the annexe.

Giving evidence from behind a screen the mother-of-four, whose youngest daughter is not involved in the case, told the jury: “In 2019 Harry started becoming over-familiar.

“He was helping my husband with gardening or DIY and I was baking in the kitchen when he came through.

“I was bending over, taking something out of the oven and I felt his hands on my hips and turned around completely shocked.

“It was very close to my bottom and I jumped up and had a hot tray out of the oven.

“I thought I may have misunderstood and it was my mistake. I was confused so didn’t talk to anyone.”

She said she second incident was in the hallway. “He was leaving and asked for a hug, which is not unusual and he said: ‘Oops, nearly kissed there.’

“That made me uncomfortable. We did kiss, but not on the lips, very close and I questioned myself if I encouraged that behaviour.”

The third incident occurred when the woman was looking for a book relating to her Masters course in the house’s study. 

“He came over to the bookcase and put his hands on my hip area.”

The 12 year-old gave a police video interview and explained Trevithick was attending a party hosted by her parents.

“It was common for Harry to always drink alcohol and he had seven or eight beers,” she said. “He came into my room and and said I should come back to the party.

“He put his hand on my thigh and I kind of just froze and he said: ‘Your too young to be tired.’

“I was just crying because I felt so uncomfortable. I moved my desk and put it in front of the door and collapsed into bed crying.”

Mr Jory told the court the charge relating to the 17 year-old daughter reflects multiple incidents.

“She says he touched her on a number of occasions, in particular on the bottom and made comments.

“He would sometimes hug her and put his hands around her and slide his hands down to her bottom and touch her hips and waist.

“She says it happened a lot and he also made crude comments to her and ask intimate questions about her relationship with her boyfriend.”

The 15 year-old was groped when alone in the house with Trevithick, said the prosecutor.

“He touched her and told her to kiss him when she was babysitting and sat on the sofa with a glass and bottle of wine.

“He offered her alcohol, but she declined and on the stairs he touched her bottom firmly for a number of seconds.

“In the kitchen he touched her again on the waist and before going to bed grabbed her waist forcefully and asked her for a kiss.”

Trevithick’s lawyer Ali Bajwa KC told the jury his client, of Birley Street, Battersea was a man of good character and innocent of the charges.

“There would have been hugs and kissing on the cheek and it is the defendant’s case that every time physical contact occurred it was wholly innocent.

“His case is that none of the contact was sexual. The family have viewed that innocent contact in an unfavourable light.”

Trial continues…………

Teen Kicked Woman Unconscious At Chelmsford Train Station

A teenage thug, who kicked a female train passenger unconscious by the station's ticket barriers, has been locked-up for three years.

Levis Lewis, 19, dragged the 49 year-old victim across the concourse of Chelmsford railway station, returning to kick her repeatedly again as she lay out cold.

PC Michael Weller, of British Transport Police (BTP), said afterwards: “Lewis launched a vicious and unprovoked attack on a woman, for which he deserves to spend his next years behind bars.”

Lewis, of Brassie Wood, Chelmsford pleaded guilty to one count of attempted grievous bodily harm.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard it was 11.30pm on October 14, last year when the victim entered the Essex rail station and began speaking to two people on the stairwell, one of whom was Lewis.

After a few minutes, he grabbed her arm, dragged her across the concourse floor and left her lying between the ticker barriers.

Lewis then walked away from the victim, but returned moments later and repeatedly kicked her in the head, causing her to fall unconscious.

He paused his attack temporarily to pick up some belongings that fell from his pockets, then kicked her in the head a further three times and left the station.

Members of the public discovered the victim and called an ambulance. 

She was taken to hospital for treatment to head and face wounds she sustained during the attack.

An investigation was launched by BTP officers to trace Lewis and following a public appeal which included CCTV images of him, he was identified and arrested in January.

Who's Laughing now?: Award-Winning Comedy Producer Jimmy Mulville Caught By 'CyclingMikey'

Flipping The Bird: Mulville

Award-winning television producer Jimmy Mulville was caught on camera flipping his middle finger to road safety activist ‘CyclingMikey’, who caught him using his mobile phone while driving a £140,000 Aston Martin.

The 68 year-old writer and comedian, who is also co-founder and managing director of Hat Trick Productions, claims he was reading texts during a family emergency.

City of London Magistrates’ Court heard Mulville mouthed: ‘Go f*** yourself,’ to cyclist Mike Van Erp, 52, as he leaned in to record the Liverpool-born funnyman.

He was convicted on Thursday of using a handheld mobile phone on July 29, last year on Battersea Bridge Road, while driving his silver six-litre V-12  Aston Martin Rapide.

Mulville, who lives in a £12m Earl’s Court house in Collingham Gardens, Kensington and Chelsea, was fined £1,000, with £625 costs and a £400 victim surcharge.

He also received six penalty points to the three already on his licence.

Camera: Mike Van Erp

He was prosecuted after Van Erp recorded him on his GoPro camera while cycling across the bridge and reported him to the police.

Mulvile, who performed for Cambridge Footlights when studying French and Classics at the university’s Jesus College, did not attend the trial due to ill health, but was represented by a lawyer.

Hat Trick Productions are responsible for hits shows ‘Father Ted’; ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’; ‘Have I Got News For You’; ‘Drop The Dead Donkey’ and ‘Room 101’.

More recently Mulville he has produced ‘Celebrity Mastermind’; ‘Bloodlands’; ‘Derry Girls’ ‘The Kumars’ and ‘Episodes’.

Van Erp told the court it was 11.25am when he caught Mulville. “I was riding my bike northbound on Battersea Bridge Road past the queueing traffic. I was going back home.

“As I was filtering past I saw a nice car ahead of me and it caught my attention because it was turned a little bit to the left, towards the kerb.

“The other traffic moved on and the driver of this car was a little slow to react to the moving traffic. The driver started driving again, not quite hitting the kerb and accelerating hard.

“It was an unusually harsh acceleration and I thought to myself it was symptomatic of a distracted driver and I wondered if he was on the phone.

“The queue came to a halt and again the driver moved off after a delay in what is known colloquially as a ‘WhatsApp Gap’ and the driver stopped behind the queue.

“I came up to the driver’s side window of this Aston Martin and saw the driver was busy typing on his phone.

“I always run a GoPro camera while I’m cycling and he was typing with both hands on the phone and the screen was lit up.

“I leaned in close to the window  to make sure my GoPro got good evidential shots of what the driver was doing.

“I think his emails were open and he was reading or answering emails and when he saw me he immediately closed that email.”

The magistrates watched the footage of Mulville raising his middle finger to Van Erp, who said: “At this point he gives me the bird and he is mouthing something to me, which might be: ‘Go f*** yourself.’

“He was on a narrow bridge lane and a red route.”

Mulville was disqualified from driving in 2020 after accumulating penalty points and the same Aston Martin was involved in a Van Erp report to the police in 2019.

However, the cyclist cannot recall if the driver, who he caught using a phone while driving in Hyde Park, was Mulville.

He denied the suggestion of Mulville’s lawyer Sam Thomas that he was deliberately “targeting” the Aston Martin.

“It is clear you are commentating on your footage as you are going along,” said the lawyer. “You initially stop and specifically go to the window.

“You are setting out to try and catch people,” added Mr Thomas. “There is a suggesting you were targeting this driver.”

Van Erp denied the suggestion, adding: “I am not spending nearly as much time on this as you think. I was not following this person, I was on my route home.”

Mr Thomas asked: “Did you target this driver because he was driving an expensive car? You have referred to it as a ‘nice car’ and you recognised it as an Aston Martin, yes?”

The lawyer told the magistrates: “This was entirely out of character for father-of-four Mr Mulville. There were some family concerns at the time and he did look at text messages.

“You have heard Mr Van Erp say he did manage to catch people on a daily basis. That is not an excuse, but puts it into context.

“Mr Mulville is a man of means and he provided his identity to being the driver.”

As a performer, three times married Mulville - who has received a BAFTA for his creative contribution to television - also starred in Channel 4’s ‘Chelmsford 123’ and 80’s ITV sitcom ‘That’s Love.’

Twenty years ago he and his ex-wife Denise O’Donoghue, 68, sold a minority stake in Hat Trick for £23m and it continues to enjoy annual turnovers of approximately £30m.

China In Your Hand: Drunken Pensioner Injures Wife With Flying Plate

A drunken octogenarian has received a suspended prison sentence for cutting his long-suffering wife’s foot with a flying dinner plate during a row.

Tommy Michael Coggins, 80, had been drinking outside the matrimonial home of forty-six years and swore at wife Maureen, 79, before hurling the china plate, which caused a wound needing hospital treatment.

Their marriage is now over and the pensioner is sofa-surfing, with hopes he can join his son in Somerset having been made subject to a five-year restraining order, prohibiting contact with Maureen.

Coggins, of Geoffrey House, Pardoner Street, Southwark fought the charge, but was convicted of inflicting actual bodily harm on March 20.

Prosecutor Colette Hanna told Croydon Magistrates’ Court it was just after 7.00pm when the defendant came back inside the Abbeville Road, Clapham address.

“He was rude to her and called her a: F***ing c***,’ and told her not to look at him, which was a normal occurrence.

“He said: ‘I wouldn’t think twice about murdering you and when his wife said she was going to call the police, he said: ‘F*** the police.’

“Mrs Coggins ran upstairs until he calmed down and when she returned he was holding a white china plate that he threw at her.

“She says he was aiming for her face, but missed and hit her foot, causing a quite deep laceration and a large amount of bleeding.”

Their son witnessed the incident and Maureen shouted: “I can’t take this anymore,” and the police were called.

Throughout the trial Coggins claimed he did not deliberately throw the plate and the injury his wife suffered was an accident and was convicted on the basis his actions were reckless.

Afterwards Mrs Coggins said: “This left me shaken and nervous. I am terrified of my husband, who is an alcoholic that drinks daily and is unpredictable.

“He has hurt me in the past and I genuinely believe Tommy will kill me if he sees me again. I know he will return to the address and I am scared he will hurt me.”

Denying he has an alcohol problem Coggins claims he was verbally abused in the matrimonial home for an hour before the incident and had no intention to hurt his wife.

His lawyer, who refused to give his name, told the court: “This was an impulsive, spontaneous, short-lived assault. A reckless act with no intention to injure.

“There was physical injury, a two centimetre laceration and she did attend hospital.

“The Probation Service says he is not an alcoholic and and he takes five pills a day for medical issues including diabetes and arthritis.

“He does not intend to have anything further to do with his ex-wife.”

Magistrate Karim Hemani announced: “This does pass the custody threshold, however we are going to suspend it.”

Coggins received twenty-four weeks imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months and must comply with a six-month Alcohol Treatment Requirement.

He must observe up to twenty-four days of a recommended activity requirement and was ordered to pay £500 costs, with a £154 victim surcharge and pay his wife £150 compensation.