Ex-Hollywood It Girl Kicked WPC At Chelsea Council Flat

A former Hollywood socialite was arrested at her Chelsea council flat after kicking a WPC’s leg when police were called to her drunkenly smashing up her home, a court heard on Wednesday.

San Francisco-born Birgit Cunningham, 60, who dated movie star Kevin Costner for three years and claims she had an affair with married Tory Peer Lord Strathclyde, kicked out while shouting ‘bastards’ at the officers. 

During her late twenties she was a doyen of the champagne-quaffing Hollywood Brit Pack, sharing a house with actress Elizabeth Hurley and partying with model Elle Macpherson and movie star Billy Zane.

The Sunset Strip residence - owned by film producer Julia Verdin - was nicknamed ‘Party Central’ and regular guests included Robert De Niro; John Hurt and Jack Nicholson.

Now living in a council flat in Wiltshire Close - a mere five-minute stroll from Sloane Square - Cunningham pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting Alin Garbuja on July 11.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court she was conditionally discharged for eighteen months and ordered to pay the officer £150 compensation.

Prosecutor Alza Rashed told the court officers attended the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea residence at approximately 9.30pm.

“Police were called by neighbours to reports of this defendant smashing items in her property.

“They said she was upset because she just had her pet cat put down on advice from her vet.

“The officers noted she was noticeably drunk at the time and called them ‘bastards’ repeatedly as she squared-up to PC Garbuja, who asked her to turn away.

“The officer describes the defendant as being ‘aggressive’ and ‘in her face,’ and kicking her in the leg before being immediately handcuffed.

'A Perfect World': Hollywood Days With Costner

“It was a kick of substantial force to the officer and she also attempted to punch the officer during the struggle,” explained the prosecutor.

“The officer says that she received scratch marks to her right hand and was wincing in pain when contact was made to her body.”

In her victim impact statement the policewoman said: “As a police officer I expect negative behaviour, but being kicked crossed the line while I was trying to help the individual.”

However, the magistrates did not accept the police account of the assault and agreed there was no need for a pre-sentence report by the Probation Service.

“We don’t agree this was substantial force or over a prolonged period of time,” announced bench Chairman Jeffrey Manton.

Cunningham’s lawyer Stuart McDonald told the court health and medication difficulties contributed to the incident.

“She has chronic back difficulties, degenerative disc disease and her GP was trying to change her medication regime and the drug she was relying on, almost to addiction, was taken away from her.

“She has had a long-running issue with alcohol addiction and in her youth lived what could be described a a glamorous and exciting lifestyle and has turned to alcohol for relief.”

Privately-educated Cunningham, who attended exclusive £13,000-a year Roedean girls’ school, is the daughter of a former Bank of America treasurer.

She was raised in a sprawling Leatherhead, Surrey country home, with summer holidays spent in luxury rented properties in the South of France.

Clothes were bought at Harrods and Cunningham has previously talked of being chauffeured to parties in a Bentley and living in a £1m Chelsea flat bought by her wealthy father.

She studied for an art degree at Rutgers College, New Jersey, worked in a Paris gallery and was then employed as a PA to the vice-president of Universal Pictures.

Problems with alcohol ended Cunnigham’s Hollywood adventure and she returned to London, immersing herself in green issues and giving birth to son Jack, 23, in 2000 following a relationship with Old Etonian racing driver Sir Harry Nuttall.

She then became a single-mum campaigner as she pursued Sir Harry for child support - resulting in an arrest for assault during a courtroom scuffle.

Mr McDonald added: “She declines the structured treatment of a court Alcohol Treatment Requirement because she is doing it herself.

“I do not wish to belittle what she officer said, but this offence has all the hallmarks of lower culpability.

“She officer says: ’At some stage she kicked me in what I believe was my leg.’ This is minor or non-existent force.”

The lawyer asked for leniency based on: “Her age, remorse in interview and her addressing the underlying cause of this. She is in receipt of state benefits.”

Cunnigham’s last criminal conviction was in 2013, but details were not given.  

“You have pleaded guilty so that brings it down and we have noted your record and you are pretty much of good character,” Mr Manton told Cunningham, who attended court with the assistance of a crutch.

“We are going out of the guidelines because you are already seeking help and you should continue with Alcoholics Anonymous and their twelve-step programme.

“There is no point putting you on an alcohol programme since you are doing it yourself already.

“I you don’t make these payments the debt collector will turn up at your door.

“In the nicest possible way we hope to never see your face again.”

Neighbours At War Over Union Jack Bunting

Bunting: Julie Anderson

A royalist, accused of racially harassing her neighbours, was arrested the day after she shouted and swore at one of them for removing coronation Union Jack bunting from her home, a court heard.

Julie Anderson, 54, says she recorded neighbour Marcia-Elouise Worrell taking down the flags and can be heard repeatedly shouting: “F*** off, Queen and country, you’re c****, you f***ing racist c****, for my Queen for my country, for my King for my Queen.”

Anderson, of Strathan Close, Putney pleaded not guilty to the racially-aggravated harassment of Mrs Worrell and her daughter Allana Roucou between March 1 and June 12 this year and was acquitted by Wimbledon Magistrates.

She was also cleared of simply harassing Ms Roucou, but was found guilty of harassing Mrs Worrell and was bailed for a pre-sentence report to October 13.

Marcia-Elouise told the court: “She would shout at me: ‘There’s no black in the Union Jack,’ and it escalated during the Coronation, asking people if they knew how to sing the National Anthem.

“She would sing ‘Morning Has Broken’ a she walked past my house and she would emphasise the words ‘BLACKbird has spoken,’ deliberately.

“She threw her Union Jack bunting into my front garden and it makes me feel she has an issue with anybody that is not white.”

Anderson was arrested on June 11, the day after Marcia-Elouise visited her home, where she was recorded on the defendant’s mobile phone reaching up to the Union Jack bunting.

“I felt like she was using those flags to antagonise the community, but I did not pull them down.

"In Our Faces": Union Jack Bunting

“I’d had enough of ‘no black in the Union Jack’ and the flags being in our faces. It was not patriotism it was racism.”

Regarding the flags Marcia-Elouise conceded: “I was saying: ‘Get rid of this.’

“I was fed up of the things that she said to us that were so evil. Just leave us alone.”

She said there were earlier incidents involving Anderson, who she said deliberately walked to her home to harass her family.

Marcia-Elouise said trouble started when she challenged Anderson about her behaviour towards a 17 year-old girl walking her chihuahuas on the close green.

“She was very aggressive towards the girl, calling her a c***, and I said: ‘You can’t shout at her like that.’

“After that she made it an almost daily event to come to my address and shout abuse. 

“She accused me of being a crackhead, a drug-offender, a paedophile and that I am sleeping with her doctor.

“She made statements about my race and my colour and her rants last about ten minutes and I feel she needs help. I did not want it to become a police matter.

Allana Roucou & Marcia-Elouise Worrell

“When we were in our front garden she tried to punch my daughter in the back of the head and she tried to bite my face and she then threw a carton of milk.”

Anderson claims she is victimised by her neighbours. “They harass the s*** out of me,” she told the court.

“I love the Royal Family, I’m traditional and I put the flags up every year for the tennis and any royal occasions.

“They call me a racist, but I am not racist. It is our flag, the flag of the UK and it was the coronation.”

Anderson told the magistrates she was harassed by Marcia-Elouise, the day before she was arrested, when the complainant came to her house.

She recorded the confrontation, which was played in court, showing her neighbour reaching up over her front door.

“What is she doing ripping down our beautiful Union Jacks? Flags for our King, our United Kingdom,” she told the trial from the witness box.

“They are racist against our King and Queen.

“I am not a racist. I am allowed to put my flags up and I put them up for the tennis as well.

“They have lied on the stand, but I have been truthful.”

Ms Roucou told the trial Anderson would shout outside the family house at 2am. “She would shout that number forty-five were drug dealers and that we abuse our kids.

“When I asked her to leave us alone she told me to f*** off.

“One day we were in our front garden and Julie approached and I received a blow to the back of my head. 

“My seventeen year-old brother intervened and Julie opened milk or some sort of liquid and threw it over us.

“She would continue to visit the address and shout number forty-five are c****, that we touch our kids and sell drugs.

“It is awful being awoken by this outside and it instantly puts me on edge and I cannot rest.”

The daughter also confirmed she heard Anderson shout: ‘There’s no black in the Union Jack.’  

“It meant that black people are not part of the UK and it felt really inflammatory. It made me feel I did not belong and that my identity can be used against me.”

The court was played further CCTV from near the complainants’ home, which they say recorded Anderson shouting at 2am: “You’re a crackhead Marcia. Smoking drugs.”

Ms Roucou told the trial: “There is no drug-taking in my household and she is associating black people with drugs. I am not a drug-user.”

Bench Chairman Gilles Casse announced: “In our opinion we don’t believe a custodial sentence would be appropriate in this case.

“After listening to the evidence we have not seen any evidence of direct comments of a racist nature towards either individual.”

Outside court Anderson said: “I loved our Queen. It broke my heart when she died because she was like a mother to me as I don’t have a mother.”

Award-Winning NHS Nurse Moonlighted At Private Hospital

Convicted: Bridgitte Magno & husband leave court 

An award-winning NHS neurological nurse, who moonlighted at a private hospital while on official sick pay, has received a suspended prison sentence.

Bridgitte Magno, 32, was employed at King’s College Hospital, Camberwell, but says she was a victim of “bullying” and a “toxic environment” - forcing her to take time off due to mental stress.

However, it was discovered that while receiving a total of £2,587.36p in sick pay she worked shifts in the private health sector, via a specialist employment agency, Croydon Magistrates’ Court heard.

The Philippines-born mother-of-two, of Deventer Crescent, East Dulwich pleaded guilty to one count of fraud between December 14, 2020 and November 28, 2021.

After she resigned from the NHS she took a permanent £850 per-week role at the private Cleveland Clinic, Portland Place, and that position is now in jeopardy as a result of the conviction.

Senior Staff Nurse Magno was sentenced to twenty weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to repay the remaining £2,300 she still owes King’s College Hospital NHS Trust.

She referred herself to the Nursing and Midwifery Council and now potentially also faces professional conduct proceedings, which threatens her career and visa status in the UK.

Prosecutor Amanda McCabe told the court: “This is sick pay fraud. The defendant is a qualified nurse who was employed by the NHS at King’s College Hospital from 2019.

“The defendant, while working in he NHS, made dishonest false representations to make a gain for herself by taking sickness absences and working privately.”

During thirteen separate periods of absence between 2020 and 2021 Magno received sixty-two days of sick pay.

“The defendant attended interview and denied any wrongdoing,” explained Ms McCabe.

Magno earned approximately £8,000 working for the private health provider while on NHS sick pay, claiming she was under financial pressure to support her own family and her mother and siblings in the Philippines.

The fraud was finally exposed near the end of 2021. “She said she was suffering from stress so was unable to carry out shifts during her notice period.

“It was treated as sick leave and during that time she worked shifts for Thornbury Nursing Services and this brought up concerns about her previous sickness absences.

“The prosecution say this is a Category A offence of fraud over a substantial period.”

Magno promised to repay the money to the NHS, but only made two payments of £187.36 and £100.00.

Her lawyer, who refused to give her name, told the court: “Her husband is in court to support her and I submit she is entitled to full credit for her early guilty plea.

“She is very well educated and came to the UK with a great deal of nursing experience and her visa is due to expire in 2024.

“She has children aged ten and seven and is currently eight months pregnant and has worked for King’s College Hospital for a number of years in exemplary fashion.

“She was a very good nurse and has received awards for her good work at the Trust. She loves what she does and takes pride in her work.

“She was placed in the stroke department and was not able to transfer to neurology - which is her expertise. 

“However, she became unwell due to the toxic environment, was bullied and shouted at in front of patients and her mental well-being deteriorated.

“After periods of sick leave she always returned back to work with gusto. She loved being a nurse.

“She was suffering financial difficulties. Her father had died and she had to support her mother in the Philippines and her siblings and their children and her mental health led to some poor decisions.

“She did bank work via an agency, which is not prohibited. She fully regrets that bank work while she was depressed and suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The conviction means her work prospects are severely jeopardised as well as her visa. She has been in the country five years and is currently eight months pregnant.

“She is an excellent nurse, who has been the recipient of many awards and the Nursing and Midwifery Council are awaiting today’s outcome to see if her licence should be revoked.

“If she cannot work in this country she will have to return to the Philippines.”

Magistrate Roger Brice told Magno: “We have listened very carefully to what’s been said by the Crown and on your behalf.

“The public do not expect their funds to be dishonestly taken from them. Taxpayers expect their funds to go to healthcare and not be defrauded by those that work within the NHS.

“We are not going along with the pre-sentence report, which is very light. We are not going to send you to prison today, but it was an option.”