Over Forte: Lady Aliai Caught Speeding.......Again

On Foot: Lady Forte Banned

Lady Aliai Forte - wife of millionaire luxury hotelier Sir Rocco - has again been hit with a six-month driving ban for her latest speeding offence.

The 59 year-old mother-of-three was caught on camera driving her black four-litre Audi A6 at 50mph in a 40mph zone.

She received three penalty points, which when added to the nine points already on her driving licence triggered an automatic statutory ban.

Italian-born Lady Forte, of Cheyne Gardens, Chelsea, who married Sir Rocco, 79, in 1986, appeared at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court.

She admitted speeding along the A3 Kingston Road, near Tibbet’s Corner roundabout, Putney at 9.20am on January 9.

The court heard Lady Forte has convictions for speeding on March 8, 2022 and January 29, this year and also for using her mobile phone while driving on December 21, 2023.

The one-time fashion designer also received a six-month driving disqualification in 2020.

“It is a terrible thing for me to be disqualified from driving,” she told the magistrates. “It causes me huge problems to my life.”

She is clearly still frustrated that half the points on her licence are for using her phone.

“I got points for an offence I don’t think I committed, talking on the phone. The phone was on my lap and six points is ridiculous.

“I work really, really hard and do a lot of charity work.

“I lose my driving licence for this? Doing fifty in a forty? I am always doing things, I am always in a rush.

“Maybe I was distracted by the change of the speed limit. I am very sorry and I apologise, I don’t want to break the law.”

Insisting that losing her licence would impact her negatively, she added: “I am organising a big charity event for the London Symphony Orchestra and I am running an estate in Surrey.

“I apologise because I do not want to break the law, but losing my driving licence creates a lot of problems for me.

“I am a very safe driver and I have never had an accident in my life.”

Instead of completing a financial means form to work out her fine Lady Forte simply wrote that she had “sufficient funds” to pay any amount to the court.

It is believed the Forte family are worth in excess of a quarter of a billion pounds.

“I don’t really know what to write. My husband pays all the household expenses so you can call me a housewife. I did explain that I don’t pay bills.”

Before leaving Lady Forte cheekily asked the magistrates to make an exception and slash the statutory disqualification in half.

“Is it possible to do three months instead of six? It causes great difficulty,” she requested.

Bench Chairman Timothy Keay told her: “You pleaded guilty to this offence of speeding at 50mph on the A3 in a 40mph zone.

“That offence adds three penalty points to your driving licence and leaves you liable to further penalty.

“You do have an extremely poor driving record that leaves you liable to disqualification. 

“The points totting system is to punish repeat offenders and you are a repeat offender.

“You are obviously a woman of more substantial means,” added Mr Keay, fining her £666, with £100 costs and a £266 victim surcharge.

“I do not have my licence because yesterday my car was broken into and it was stolen along with my credit cards, which I have cancelled,” Lady Forte told the bench.

“Your driving licence is no longer valid anyway,” Mr Keay told her.

Lady Forte is the daughter of Rome neurologist Professor Giovanni Ricci and she is the mother of Irene, Lydia and Charles.

City Executive Accused Of Sexual Assault: "Disgusted And Mortified" By CCTV Footage

A City pension fund executive has confessed to being “disgusted and mortified” by CCTV images, which show his hand up the skirt of a drunken female financier near the Bank of England.

Craig Brown, 61, had met the experienced professional at a casual business lunch that day and told a jury she consented to sexual activity in a covered walkway near the entrance to Bank Underground Station.

Grammar school-educated Brown was the director of a company based in the heart of the Square Mile is also the former Head of Global Consultant Relations for industry giants Legal & General.

“I watch the video and being in that situation was very embarrassing. I should not have been there or in that situation,” he told Inner London Crown Court. “Obviously we were doing something we shouldn’t be doing in a public place.”

Brown, who lives in a £1.5m house in the Surrey commuter belt in Harestone Hill, Caterham has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexually assaulting the woman by penetration on July 21, 2021.

“I was flattered, slightly surprised and enjoying the moment. I was single again and it was fun,” father-of-two Brown told the trial. “We continued to kiss each others’ face and neck and I like massaging legs, it is something I do.”

The jury watched CCTV of the woman sitting on the ground with a kneeling or crouching Brown running his hands up and down her legs and feet in the public area at approximately 9.30pm.

“She was giggling and enjoying the relaxation,” recalled Brown. “I massaged closer to the top of her thighs, becoming more sexual and I moved my hand up further.”

He admitted placing his hand between her legs and underneath the white lacy thong she was wearing. “It was initially stroking and then rubbing and she was clearly enjoying it. She was laughing and smiling and making murmurs of pleasure.”

Prosecutor Valeria Swift told the jury the married mother was “semi conscious” and far too drunk to consent, with an alcohol reading equivalent to four times the drink-drive limit and no memory of events after 7.00pm.

A group of friends, who had been attending a cricket match, stepped in and interrupted the couple, with the complainant assuring them: ‘He’s a good guy.’

“The complainant was consenting and capable of consenting that night,” answered Brown to questions from his lawyer Eleanor Laws KC. “I thought she was good fun with an interesting and vibrant personality and we got on well.”

He told the court he intended to get the train home until the woman suggested continuing to drink. “It was two days after the Covid lockdown and we were pleased to be out.”

Brown had joined a lunch the complainant was enjoying with a City financial consultant at Cabotte French restaurant earlier in the day and after that man left they continued drinking at two other bars.

“We were kissing and cuddling in the bar and we were both being foolish, kissing and touching in the lift. We were laughing and joking, two people fairly drunk in London on a Summer’s night.

“We left the bar and I went to Tesco. It was a foolish decision, a bad drunken decision, but she suggested having more wine where we were sitting.”

The sexual activity was interrupted by the cricket group, recalled Brown. “I heard a noise and heard one of the witness’s saying: ‘What are you doing?’ and coming over and confronting me and pushing me away.

“They asked me what I was doing and why I was doing it. The men were quite aggressive.

“I understand now what they thought they had seen. We were doing something we shouldn’t have been doing.

“They were talking at once, it was quite bewildering and frightening. I could not believe what was happening, I had never been in such a traumatic situation in my life.

“They were holding me and stopping me. I wanted away from these guys.”

The woman suffered two seizures and was taken to hospital in an ambulance and police arrested Brown, who spent a sleepless evening on a concrete cell floor before questioning the next day.

“I was disgusted, bewildered, ashamed of everything that happened that previous night. I was very stressed and feeling terrible  that I had got myself into that situation.” 

Ms Swift told the jury: “CCTV in the lift shows Mr Brown putting his hand on her waist and the woman smiling and laughing and it would seem she was happy and comfortable in his company.

“CCTV also shows a porter help her steady herself as she leaves the bar as she seemed unstable and by 9.20pm she looked decidedly drunk,” explained the prosecutor.

“They are again picked up on CCTV on a walkway near Bank Underground Station and this defendant kissed her and you can see her smiling, but you may conclude she was very drunk indeed.

“She was swaying as she was walking and the CCTV shows her slump to the ground.

“The defendant started to stroke her legs and her head was slumped down completely.

“A group of friends who had just attended the cricket were passing and some of them saw kissing and others saw Mr Brown ‘fingering’ the woman.

“Perhaps they were taken aback by this happening in a public place, but what struck all of the group was the state the complainant was in.

“They variously describe her as ‘limp’ and ‘semi-conscious’ and not aware of what was happening.

“By this time she was unresponsive, but there were small movements of her leg, indicating she was not totally unconscious, but in a drunken stupor.

“The group approached to confront the defendant because they came to the conclusion that what they saw was ‘not on’ and there was ‘something off’ about it.

“They felt the defendant was taking advantage of a severely drunken semi-conscious woman.

“As the group approached, this defendant moved and the woman completely slumped down,” explained the prosecutor.

“She was in such a drunken stupor she did not have the capacity to consent to sexual activity.

Nine days later the woman gave a video-recorded interview to police, confirming she had been drinking wine that day and was introduced to Brown.

“He seemed a pleasant guy and he knew his stuff and was very well-versed in the industry,” she recalled.

“I do not remember leaving the pub with him. It is a complete blank.

“I vaguely remember shouting, but don’t know how that related to what happened.

“I don’t know if I was attacked, I have no recollection. I have no recollection until the police and paramedics.”

Trial continues………… 

City Exec Accused Of Public Sex Assault On Drunken Female Financier

A City pension fund executive was caught molesting a “semi conscious” female financier near the Bank of England after the pair’s all-day drinking session, a court heard yesterday.

Craig Brown, 61, and the woman had just met at a casual business lunch, but she consumed so much alcohol she was equivalent to four times the drink-drive limit.

Grammar school-educated Brown, the director of an insurance company based in the heart of the Square Mile is also the former Head of Global Consultant Relations for industry giants Legal & General.

Inner London Crown Court heard a group of cricket friends saw Brown groping the woman between her legs near the entrance to Bank Underground Station at 9.30pm and raised the alarm.

Brown, who lives in a £1.5m house in the Surrey commuter belt in Harestone Hill, Caterham has pleaded not guilty to one count of assaulting the woman by penetration on July 21, 2021.

Prosecutor Valeria Swift told the jury the married professional woman was too drunk to consent to sexual activity and has no recollection of the evening after 7.00pm.

Brown joined a lunch the complainant was enjoying with a City financial consultant at Cabotte French restaurant.

“All three of them got on well and were enjoying a good drink and when the other man left, leaving the woman and this defendant, they carried on drinking,” explained Ms Swift.

“This defendant took a selfie of them together and they were happy in each others company and both of them had a lot to drink.”

They continued drinking at the nearby Old Watling Pub until 7.00pm and then went to the Coq d’Argent rooftop bar, but the woman has no memory of this.

“CCTV in the lift shows Mr Brown putting his hand on her waist and the woman smiling and laughing and it would seem she was happy and comfortable in his company.

“CCTV also shows a porter help her steady herself as she leaves the bar as she seemed unstable and by 9.20pm she looked decidedly drunk,” explained the prosecutor.

“They are again picked up on CCTV on a walkway near Bank Underground Station and this defendant kissed her and you can see her smiling, but you may conclude she was very drunk indeed.

“She was swaying as she was walking and the CCTV shows her slump to the ground.

“This defendant must have also been very drunk by now as he had been drinking over a considerable period of time.

“She started smoking a cigarette and Mr Brown returned with more alcohol and is seen with a bottle of wine.

“The defendant started to stroke her legs and her head was slumped down completely.

“A group of friends who had just attended the cricket were passing and some of them saw kissing  and others saw Mr Brown ‘fingering’ the woman.

“Perhaps they were taken aback by this happening in a public place, but what struck all of the group was the state the complainant was in.

“They variously describe her as ‘limp’ and ‘semi-conscious’ and not aware of what was happening.

“By this time she was unresponsive, but there were small movements of her leg, indicating she was not totally unconscious, but in a drunken stupor.

“The group approached to confront the defendant because they came to the conclusion that what they saw was ‘not on’ and there was ‘something off’ about it.

“They felt the defendant was taking advantage of a severely drunken semi-conscious woman.

“As the group approached, this defendant moved and the woman completely slumped down,” explained the prosecutor.

“She was in such a drunken stupor she did not have the capacity to consent to sexual activity.

“The group called the police and the woman had at least one seizure.

“By now emotions were running high between the group and Mr Brown and he told them they had been out and that there was: ‘Nothing to worry about and nothing to see here.’

“The group were not going anywhere and by now the woman came around and was telling them: ‘He’s a good guy.’

“It is important to know if she had any knowledge of what had happened and this defendant cannot be guilty if she consented.”

Nine days later the woman gave a video-recorded interview to police, confirming she had been drinking wine that day and was introduced to Brown.

“He seemed a pleasant guy and he knew his stuff and was very well-versed in the industry,” she recalled.

“I do not remember leaving the pub with him. It is a complete blank.

“I vaguely remember shouting, but don’t know how that related to what happened.

“I don’t know if I was attacked, I have no recollection. I have no recollection until the police and paramedics.”

Trial continues…………  

Suspended Sentence For Multiple Stabbing

An armed pub thug, who pulled out a knife and stabbed another man twice in the head could have killed the victim, say investigating police.

Kyle Quinn,22, got involved in a fight at the City of London's The Woodins Shades pub, Bishopsgate on the evening of October 22, 2022.

He received two years imprisonment, suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 240 hours community service.

Quinn, of Hammondstreet Road, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire was convicted after a three-day trial at Inner London Crown court of wounding and possession of an offensive weapon.

During the altercation Quinn stabbed another man twice in the head - causing serious injuries - and once in the back. 

Fortunately that final stabbing did not penetrate all the way through the victim’s coat.

Detective Constable Sam Lowe said: “This was a nasty attack which could have easily have led to the victim dying from his injuries. 

“Our thoughts are with the victim who has been really brave in coming forward and supporting our investigation.

“Quinn thought he could flee the scene and evade justice. 

“An extensive investigation involving many witnesses, analysing hours of CCTV, recovery of the knife, forensic examination of blood and DNA and media appeals, resulted in police identifying Quinn by November 2022.

"When Quinn returned to Stansted Airport in January 2023, we were waiting and arrested him. 

“If you come to the City with the intent of using a knife to harm others we will find you and put you before the courts.”