Police Deal Blow To Pringle Stash

A drug-dealer's Pringle stash has been found by police near a children's playground in south-east London.

Part-time Special Constables were on patrol in Mulgrave Road at around 8.00pm on Tuesday, January 5.

They were supporting the Woolwich Dockyard Safer Neighbourhoods Team and, acting on local information, the officers came across the two hidden tubes stuffed with 15 bags of cannabis.

Special Constable Robert Burvill-McIver said: "Acting on information provided to us by concerned locals we were able to find the hidden drugs.

“We have deprived a drug dealer of their stash and made the area safer for the local community.

“I would urge anyone with any concerns about drug dealing in the area to get in contact with us."

Chief Inspector Darren Cox said: "We do not tolerate drug dealing and we will take every opportunity to deprive criminals of their illegal gains.

“At this stage no arrests have been made and enquiries are underway to identify those responsible."

Anyone with any information can call police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Couple Sentenced For Running Illegal Care Agency

Saraspedy & Mahendrasing

A couple who ran an illegal multi-million pound care agency, which stopped looking after an 81 year-old widow - with tragic consequences - after it was closed-down, were sentenced yesterday.

Former Shell secretary Gloria Foster was left dying on her own for nine days after the company she was paying £2,000 per-month to - CareFirst 24 - were shut-down for using illegal workers.

The Mauritian-born husband and wife team of police chief's daughter Saraspedy Caussyram, 54, and her husband, nurse Mahendrasing Caussyram, 51, had a lucrative contract with Sutton Council that alone was worth £500,000.

In just two years the bank account of their illegal operation was swelled by payments totalling £2.65m, Croydon Crown Court heard.

Mr. Caussyram was sentenced to three years imprisonment and disqualified from being a company director for five years.

Mrs Caussyram received twelve months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and will have to complete 150 hours community service work.

A hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act will follow. 

The couple were both convicted unanimously by a jury of facilitating breaches of immigration law between January 1, 2011 and January 6, 2013 by engaging visa overstayers to work in the UK.

Mr. Caussyram alone was convicted of breaching immigration law between the same dates by engaging self-employed workers contrary to their visa restrictions.

Neglected: Gloria Foster

There were 54 mainly-Filipino students on their workforce, who were not legally entitled to work on a self-employed basis, and twelve of them should not even have been in the country.

None of them paid tax or National Insurance contributions.

The couple, of Burdon Lane, Sutton provided round the clock healthcare to the sick, disabled and elderly.

The police raid on January 15, 2013 meant Mrs Foster was abandoned in her ground-floor flat four miles away, where she had been seen four times a day by CareFirst 24 to be cleaned, dressed and fed.

She had dementia, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes and was found by a nurse nine days later suffering from dehydration, starvation and kidney failure - covered in her own faeces and soaked in urine.

Not Guilty: Omid Nabbey

Mrs Foster died on February 4 and an inquest ruled she died of 'natural causes contributed to by neglect' after hearing Surrey County Council, which had been informed of the names and addresses of vulnerable clients before the raid, failed to act in her case. 

Judge Peter Gower QC highlighted the advantages to the couple of having a self-employed workforce.

"No National Insurance contributions were payable, no sick pay, no holiday pay, no minimum wage, no travel expenses.

"Some twenty-four hour live-in workers were paid about half the minimum wage."

Prosecutor Mr. Andrew Evans told jury: "Their company employed overseas workers as self-employed contractors who worked as nurses and carers in order to service the company's lucrative private and public sector contracts.

"A significant number of these workers were working illegally beyond the terms and conditions of the visas that permitted them entry to the UK.

"The Caussyram's were responsible for ensuring those working under their remit were doing so legally. Instead they facilitated illegal working practises by continuing to allow them to work once their visas had expired"

Mrs Caussyram, a former midwife oversaw domestic care and Mr. Caussyram the nursing side of the business.

They were arrested after a Home Office investigation, which discovered the London Borough of Sutton paid their company half a million pounds for care provision between June 1, 2007 and January 13, 2013.  

The company's annual profits were between £123,585 and £393,793 and was run day-to-day with the assistance of Mauritian and Filipino managers.

"The rates of pay were not very good nor were the hours in particular instances. Some workers were live-in carers working twenty-four hours per day seven days a week," added Mr. Evans.

"There was a significant mark up in the rates charged to public sector clients when compared to the rates paid to carers"

Mr. Caussyram was described as "forceful" when insisting to his managers the work was lawful.

"The fact that tax was not paid on earnings was something foreseeable by the defendants as a consequence of the arrangements they put in place for their illegal workers," added Mr. Evans.  

CareFirst 24 provided services for Woking and Walton hospitals in Surrey, Surrey Primary Care Trust and Surrey County Council as well as Merton and Sutton councils.

"If local authorities had known that CareFirst 24 was providing services via carers not working lawfully in the UK…..those services would have been terminated and no further payment made."

The company was registered with regulator The Care Quality Commission, but the organisation was not told workers were all self-employed.

After their arrests the couple told investigators it was up to the company's management team to check the immigration status of the workers.

"There is clear compelling evidence that CareFirst 24 was engaging migrant workers on a self-employed basis in breach of their visas and or after their visas had expired.

"Equally clear is that the directors of CareFirst 24 undertook an active role in the recruitment of such workers and in controlling the company's position as regards the legality of their working on its behalf.

"CareFirst 24 provided Mr. and Mrs Caussyram with a significant income and it may be that for the exploitation of these overseas workers, who often worked long hours and were paid considerably less than the rates at which the services were charged, their income would not have been so great."

Their accountant, Omid Nabbey, 37, of Hartley Down, Purley - boss of Apple Payroll Solutions - who the prosecution claimed assisted the couple laundering their profits - was acquitted halfway through the trial. 

There is no suggestion of sub-standard care provided by their staff.

Gap-Toothed Bus Stop Sex Pest Who Groped Young Woman Hunted

Police are hunting a bus stop sex pest, who kissed a young woman and squeezed her bottom.

Officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC) have released this CCTV image of their suspect.

The incident occurred on June 28, last year at about 11.30am while the victim, 24, was waiting for a bus on Streatham High Road, Lambeth.

The suspect approached her and kissed her before squeezing her bottom.

The suspect is described as a tall black man, of slim build, aged between 40 and 50 years, with balding hair.

He wore a blue tracksuit and may be missing several teeth.

Officers are releasing a CCTV image of the man and are asking anyone with any information to contact Police Constable Jonathan Weller on 07771 797643 or via 101.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting reference 186603.

Female Nightclubber Punched Unconscious: Can You ID Suspect?

Police are hunting a nightclub thug, who punched a woman unconscious - splitting her lip - during an early hours attack.

The 30 year-old victim needed twenty stitches to the facial wound after being struck at 4.45am outside a club in Drysdale Street, Hoxton on June 14, last year.

This CCTV image has been released in an attempt to identify a suspect police wish to question.

The assailant was seen to run up and punch the woman in the face, causing her to hit her head as she fell to the ground.

She remained unconscious on the floor for several minutes before being rushed to an east London hospital where she received the stitches to her lower lip and several staples to a head injury.

The man police wish to speak with is described as between 25 and 30 years old, 5ft 8ins with short brown hair.

He was dressed in a black T-shirt and blue jeans.

Police are keen to hear from anyone who recognises the man or who witnessed the assault.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Constable Sophie Hayes from Hackney CID via 101 quoting reference number 4614922/15 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

ASBO Accountant Convicted Again In Epic Parking And Planning Feud

ASBO Accountant: Gloucester-Trotman

A 77 year-old ASBO accountant involved in a bitter parking and access dispute, which he says claimed the life of his son and over £200,000 in legal bills, has been convicted yet again of breaking the order.

Roger Jocelyn Gloucester-Trotman, of Devon Road, Sutton and his late son Ian Trotman, who committed suicide aged 44, owned the service road behind a suburban parade of shops, where the defendant's accountancy business is based.

Planning permission was successfully won - despite local objections -  to build two three-storey townhouses at each end of the road and Gloucester-Trotman tried to stop neighbouring business owners using and parking there despite them having legal access rights.

Since February 2005 Gloucester-Trotman has continuously been convicted of breaching of ASBOs and restraining orders - around his home and business premises in Westmead Road, Carshalton.

He was convicted by a Croydon Crown Court jury of two counts of breaching an Anti-Social Behaviour Order.

The court heard he has clocked-up 27 convictions for similar offences.

His lawyer said: "Mr. Gloucester-Trotman's health seems to be deteriorating markedly.

"He can seem feisty at times, but he's not a man in good health.

"He seems to have become more frail."

The case was adjourned to consider the compilation of a psychiatric report.

The ASBO was made as a result of him continuing to complain to police about issues regarding his son's death, vehicle access and parking to the rear of his office and outside his home.

The dispute has also cost Gloucester-Trotman his professional reputation after he was struck-off by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2011, after they finally lost patience with his constant court appearances and ASBO breaches. 

Tragic: Disputed Alley

On May 28, 2010 his property-developer son was found dead inside a drain located in the disputed access road with an angle-grinder, petrol can and towels and a subsequent inquest found he killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning. 

"He was driven to it by the police," said Gloucester-Trotman, after previously receiving a suspended prison sentence for another ASBO breach.

The development proved incredibly unpopular amongst local residents, who claimed their lives had been made a misery by the father and son's behaviour, their instillation of CCTV and declaring their own parking-free zone.

One neighbour reported Ian Trotman to police for criminal damage after her boiler flue, which was adjacent to the second development site, was vandalised and another 73 year-old resident claimed the son deliberately shovelled lumps of rubble against his legs, sending him crashing to the ground.

That resulted in a criminal trial, but even though Mr. Trotman was cleared of causing actual bodily harm his father says the stress of the prosecution, plus a civil dispute between his son and his ex - Sue Gloucester-Trotman -  caused unbearable stress.

The accountant's battle with his business neighbours concerning parking and access in the road ended up at Guildford County Court, which ruled against Gloucester-Trotman, costing him £200,000 in legal bills.

During the dispute he dug up the access road on Boxing Day, preventing any vehicles gaining access and parking.

Those incidents continued to occur from what Gloucester-Trotman saw as a lack of road traffic enforcement, forcing him to be distracted from his accountancy practice to ensure regulations at his home address and office were maintained.

The ASBO was made to prohibit Gloucester-Trotman abusing his neighbours, calling 999 except in an emergency and calling police to complain about car parking and the death of his son.

The order was made to protect three neighbours from harassment, but he has continued to abuse them in the street and regularly turn up at Sutton Police Station to make multiple complaints, at one point having six live cases before the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Family Feud: Sister's Offensive Phone Message To Deceased Brother's Ex

A retired schoolteacher left an insulting four-letter telephone message to her deceased brother's ex around the time she was also responsible bust-up at the funeral over the custody of his ashes.

Suzanne Couves, 61, of Belvedere Close, Gravesend claim she was left suicidal by the animosity between her and Kathy Hay, who had lived with her late brother for twenty-nine years.

She pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates Court to communicating an indecent or offensive message on or before November 2, last year for the purposes of causing distress or anxiety.

Couves telephoned a Scottish address she believed Kathy was staying at saying: “I think she's the most murdering c*** that walks on this f***ing earth.”

Her brother passed away in Scotland on September 9, last year and the message was first heard on November 2, a week after Couves was responsible for trouble at the Highland wake at Dornoch Inn.

She claims she left the message on September 29, which would put her outside the six-month deferred sentence imposed at Tain Sheriff Court, for threatening behaviour.

On that occasion she brandished a walking stick at her brother's son – her nephew – while shouting: “I want his f***ing ashes. I'm going to kill you.”

Prosecutor Miss Remi Ogunfowora told the court the message was left at the home of Jean Dimmer. “When she arrived back home on November the second she played her answerphone and recognised the voice of Suzanne Couves.”

The police were called and Couves was questioned in february. “She confirmed the death of her brother and admitted she left the message.

“She said she did not think it was offensive, but was very, very upset and had been terribly upset in Scotland and was blaming Kathy Hay for her brother's death.

“She said she was on anti-depressants, was receiving counselling and had agrophobia and assumed Kathy Hay was staying with Mrs Dimmer and that's why she left the message.

“She said she could not care less at the time of the message. She was suicidal.”

Couves produced a supporting letter from her local Tory MP Adam Holloway to the court, which heard her late brother was one of six siblings and three had already passed away.

“The family was ripped apart because of the lack of clarity about what he wanted done with the ashes,” said Miss Bhadua Chudasama, defending.

“However, prior to him dying the family was already ripped apart and she held Kathy Hay responsible for that rift and there were Family Court proceedings over access and contact.

“At the funeral she was told she would not be able to say anything and she knew her brother's wishes about his ashes, there is a family plot.”

Couves still earns a living in teaching as a part-time tutor, but the criminal convictions could hamper her career.

“She sees her future disintegrating before her eyes. She is subject to criminal record checks and these proceedings are going to weigh heavily on her future.”

The magistrates agreed the offence was “out of character” for the first-time offender and fined Couves £155, with £85 costs and ordered her to pay a £20 victim surcharge.

She was also made subject to an indefinite restraining order, prohibiting contact with Kathy Hay and Jean Dimmer.  

Online Sex Predator Trapped By Internet Vigilantes

An online predator, who thought he was grooming a 14 year-old girl, was caught by internet vigilantes when he arrived for sex with the youngster.

Dad-of-two Daniel Mullarkey, 31, of Betchworth Way, New Addington was identified and filmed by members of Internet Interceptors.

He spent eleven weeks locked-up since his arrest and today was sentenced to sixteen months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Mullarkey jumped a fence and fled across tracks at Arena Tramlink stop, South Norwood and was arrested after reporting the group to police.

He pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to attempting to meet a girl under the age of sixteen years-old after grooming her online.

"It was an amateur investigation, which set-up the girl's profile, but instead the defendant met the investigator and his friends," said prosecutor Mr. Tom Nicholson.

Internet Interceptors member Andy Bradstock invented schoolgirl Hayley Stephens and posted the fake profile on an adult online dating site.

Mullarkey initiated contact and was told early on 'Hayley' was only 14 years-old during text exchanges with Mr. Bradstock.

"She said she was a virgin and Mullarkey asked her: 'Can you tell me what you would like to do as you know what I'd like to do.

"'If it hurts we can stop if you want.' He also tells her not to tell anyone and offers to buy her a secret phone."

Mullarkey was confronted by the group, who describe themselves as a "dedicated team of parents hunting pedophiles and sexual predators across the UK," on January 20.

"The defendant pulled his hood over his face to hide his identity and  saidwas not there to meet a girl."

The group posted footage online of their confrontation with Mullarkey, telling him: "Stay here or we will take you down."

Mullarkey tried to lie his way out of trouble as the men say: "Take your hood off so we can identify you.

"What are you going to do to her, rape her?"

Mullarkey told police the men tried to rifle through his pockets, but Internet Interceptors revealed their evidence, mainly explicit text exchanges with the defendant.

The first-time offender's lawyer Mr. James Hasslacher told the court: "He's extremely ashamed and cannot understand how he has gone down this slippery slope.

"He went from a happy married home life and a job to being in custody.

"If he needed to be taught a lesson, he's leaned that lesson and says he's never going to go near the internet again."

The Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon QC told him: "This is an extremely serious matter and it is all the more extraordinary that you are a married man with two children of your own.

"One of the results of this outrageous and disgusting activity is that there has been a breakdown in your marriage.

"You were not to know there was no fourteen year-old girl because the whole thing was set-up by a group of individuals seeking to flush out people of your mindset, who seek sexual activity with underage children."

Mullarkey must also complete 200 hours community service work; sign the sex offenders register for 10 years; obey a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on a barring list preventing him working with children and vulnerable adults.

Husband Jailed For Drug-Dealing After Charges Against Wife Dropped

Adam & Kawinna Hamerton

A drug-dealer is starting a four-and-a-half year prison sentence after admitting charges his wife was cleared of.

Adam Hamerton, 38, and Kawinna Hamerton, 38, of Dalton Street, St. Albans, Hertfordshire were both arrested and charged with drug offences in south-east London.

The Crown Prosecution Service dropped their case against Kawinna, but Adam was jailed after a defence request to enter guilty pleas at Croydon Crown Court.

Police say that in Southlands Road, Bromley on September 8, 2014 they seized 986 ecstacy tablets, plus the fragments of a dozen more tablets and 3.4 kilos of amphetamine split into three packages.

Also recovered were two packages of cannabis, weighing 2.04 grammes and 34.9 grammes respectively and £28,000 in cash, which the prosecution says is the profits of drug-dealing.

Adam pleaded guilty to possessing class A and class B drug, with intent to supply, and possessing criminal property.

Young Labour Politician Facing Three Years For Drug Dealing

A young Labour politician - with ambitions to be a lawyer - is facing a potential three years in prison for dealing cannabis from the roof lining of his car.

Student Firase Morgan, 24, of Rodmarton Street, Marylebone stood as the official Labour Party candidate for Hyde Park Ward in the City of Westminster council elections two years ago.

He was not elected a councillor and currently attends BPP University, where he is studying for an LLB law degree.

Morgan is also a senior ambassador for charity Just for Kids Law and lobbies businesses to employ people with criminal records.

He pleaded guilty at Hammersmith Magistrates Court to possessing 28 wraps of cannabis, with intent to supply, outside the Gloucester Pub, Sloane Street, Knightsbridge on March 5.

He also pleaded guilty to supplying a quantity of cannabis to a female member of the pub's staff.

Prosecutor Miss Stella Watta told the court yesterday: "Officers were on patrol at 4.30pm and they noticed a female in the Knightsbridge area run to a cashpoint, get money, and run back to the pub.

"She exited the pub and goes to a vehicle in which Mr. Morgan is sat.

"She had two twenty pound notes in her hand and when she came out of the vehicle she no longer had the two twenty pound notes on her, but had two wraps.

"She works and resides at the Gloucester pub in Sloane Street and when officers went to the premises they recovered two wraps. which she said had been supplied by Mr. Morgan.

"They then went to speak to Mr. Morgan and the vehicle smelled of cannabis and the car and Mr. Morgan were searched.

"They found that in the roof lining of the vehicle were twenty-eight white containers that contained herbal cannabis inside a blue carrier bag loosely concealed in the lining.

"Mr. Morgan's premises were searched and a thousand pounds was recovered, which is believed to be the proceeds of crime, but it is not clear if confiscation proceedings are underway."

The drug containers were described as tupperware-like and the wraps were colour-coded, with an approximate street value of £560.

The barmaid told police: "I bought the weed from the bloke in the car", explaining she simple called a number she knew and Morgan turned up.

He claims the £1,000 cash is not drug-related, insisting it is his student finance and he had no other income.

Morgan was convicted of robbery in 2008 and in 2009 received a suspended prison sentence for theft from the person.

District Judge Karim Ezzat said the sentencing range for the offences were twenty-six weeks to three years imprisonment and bailed Morgan to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on April 28.

"He was doing it for money, he was doing it for financial gain," said the judge. "He had one thousand pounds cash."

Morgan's lawyer claimed the defendant was not a key player, but taking orders from suppliers up the chain.

District Judge Ezzat told Morgan that the starting-point for the offences was twelve months imprisonment, exceeding the magistrates courts powers of six months.

Accountant Nicked £245K From Catholic Private Schools

The accounts chief of a catholic educational trust, which runs four private London schools, avoided prison yesterday despite stealing nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

Chartered accountant Melanie Goodwin, 57, of Bath Street, Abingdon, Oxfordshire even enjoyed a grace-and-favour apartment in a listed 18th century building overlooking Clapham Common. 

Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon QC told the dramatic arts fan: "There will be no going out to the theatre," when ordering her to wear an electronic tag to impose a six-month night-time curfew.

Deciding to impose a suspended prison sentence he added: "That was a hairline decision that would be seen by many that you have got away with a serious crime."

Mother-of-two Goodwin pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud by abuse of position against PACT (Parents, Children & Teachers) on various dates between February 1, 2010 and August 29, 2014.

The sums in the individual charges are £28,632.21; £61,948.63; £66,843.38; £51,024.92 and £37,274.13.

"It was a substantial sum of money per year and they (PACT) talk of reputational damage," added the judge.

"It's such a sad case. The word 'betrayed' is used in the victim impact statement.

"There is a huge breach of trust here. Where did the money go? It was a huge amount to steal."

PACT runs £8,820 per-year Oakwood School, Purley; £13,800 per-year Oliver House Preparatory School, Clapham and Croydon's Cedars Secondary School and Balham's Laurels Secondary School, which both charge £12,630 per-year.

Prosecutor Mr. Richard Hutchings said: "She had full access to PACT's internet bank accounts, the cheque writing and was responsible for the payroll and expenses."

She was exposed by an enquiry into a suspicious £378 expenses claim that was paid to an account called 'Premium' which was her unsuspecting husband's bank account.

Goodwin has repaid £60,000, plus her £15,000 redundancy pay-out and PACT have a £155,000 charge on the family home, which is up for sale.

The investigation by Detective Constable Kerry Wood of the Metropolitan Police's Complex Fraud Squad revealed Goodwin made 129 fraudulent payments to herself in four years.

Her lawyer, Mr. Jake Taylor, told the court: "It was spent on large credit card debts, not on an extravagant lifestyle. It was whittled away.

"She has sought to pay every penny back and has not filed for bankruptcy and has been making amends for her actions.

"She has remorse, regret, shame," he said of the first-time offender. "This is a huge betrayal.

"She is doing all she can to ensure harm to the PACT trust is minimised.

"She initially took a small amount and intended to pay it back and it spiralled. She just felt trapped."

Judge McKinnon told Goodwin, who could have been jailed for a maximum of ten years: "This was a systematic course of criminal offending when you were in a senior position at this charity.

"You were essentially he head of finance at that trust, responsible for all financial matters.

"You were trusted to employ those funds for legitimate purposes, instead what you did, week by week, was filter the money away for your own personal benefit."

After reading probation and psychiatric reports, plus references and letters from Goodwin's family the judge added: "I have been persuaded by this material and factors that relate to you and your family and other issues that justify me suspending your sentence."

Goodwin was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to perform 300 hours community service work.

She must obey a six-month curfew between 9pm and 6am, pay £500 cost and a £100 victim surcharge.

PACT Chair of Governors Eleanor Leonard said: "There is a real sense of betrayal that remains eighteen months after we discovered she was stealing from the charity."

Teen Caught Dealing Colour-Coded Cocaine Wraps

Bromley Magistrates Court

A teenage first-time offender has admitted cocaine dealing during an emotionally-charged court hearing in which he and his family were in tears.

Harry Edward Collett, 19, of William Foster Lane, Welling, south-east London had colour-coded wraps of the drug to indicate quantity and price.

He appeared at Bromley Magistrates Court (pictured) yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to possessing a quantity of cocaine, with intent to supply, on January 6.

The court heard police on patrol in Bexley stopped a vehicle Collett was travelling in.

He appeared nervous to the officers when questioned and was searched.

Police found a bag stuffed down his trousers, which contained fifty to seventy wraps of the class A drug.

The paper wraps were in two different colours, white indicated £20 and pink £40.

The court decided its maximum power of punishment – six months imprisonment – was insufficient and Collett was bailed to appear for sentencing at Inner London Crown Court.   

Evangelical Pastor Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Female Followers During "Spiritual Discipline" Spanking Sessions

An evangelical pastor, who administered "spiritual discipline" by spanking female members of his congregation's bare bottoms with his hand, was convicted of sex offences last Friday.

The spankings, which were also dished-out to children, were to satisfy 73 year-old self-styled Reverend Howard Curtis's "desire for power and sexual satisfaction," Croydon Crown Court heard.

"An immediate custodial sentence is inevitable in this case," announced Judge Peter Gower QC. "I'm granting bail as a matter of mercy so he can put his affairs in order."

He told the first-time offender, who is banned from the church as a condition of bail, to return for sentencing on April 22, adding: "You have been convicted of some very serious offences."

The father-of-three, of Bloxworth Close, Wallington ran the Coulsdon Christian Fellowship (CCF) as a cult, prosecutor Mr. Toby Fitzgerald told the jury.

He was convicted of five counts of sexual assault between January 2009 and July 2013 against one female worshipper; one count of sexual assault against another between 2007 and 2009 and two counts of child cruelty against two youngsters. 

The five counts regarded one woman he ordered to strip naked before putting her over his knee to slap, continuing the beating when she collapsed to the floor - with one of the dozen or so sessions in front of her husband.

He introduced the student nurse to his version of "Christian domestic discipline" - following Bible teachings of keeping women in their place.

"She trusted him completely as a man of God," said Mr. Fitzgerald, explaining the first disciplining - for untidiness - occurred in the defendant's office at the church.

"She pulled down her trousers and underwear and lay across his lap. He hit her hard about twelve times until she ended up on the floor.

"She'd become, in effect, a rag doll in the defendant's hands."

Subsequent discipline sessions were for "lacking femininity" and having a "frigid spirit," the jury were told.

"The defendant told her to strip completely naked and she lay across his lap and he slapped her. 

"He also smacked her not  only on her bottom, but between her legs for not recognising her femininity."

Curtis also took naked pictures of her on his mobile phone and fondled her between her legs, once inserting a finger, the jury were told, although he was cleared of that particular charge.

When arrested he did not deny the spankings, insisting they were consensual.

The second woman was told it was "God's will" she be punished and she agreed to his form of discipline, which took place in another follower's house, next-door to the Chipstead Valley Road church.

"She leaned over a bannister in the hallway and took her trousers and knickers down so he could spank her bare bottom.

"She was told it was important not to tell him when to stop, he would decide when it was time to stop and he continued to beat her forcefully.

"There were twenty to thirty strikes with his bare hand and she felt it was going on forever and was crying. She was black and blue and told all these actions were in God's name."

He was convicted of one count of child cruelty between March 1, 2007 and February 28, 2008 in relation to the woman's nine year-old daughter.

She was put over his knee and beaten "very hard" until she started crying, explained Mr. Fitzgerald.

The second child cruelty conviction relates to a worshipper's baby, whose bottom he is accused of pinching, some time between January 1, 1986 and January 3, 1989.

Curtis was ordained in 1988 under the umbrella of the Elim Pentecostal church.

"He presented himself as an inspirational man of God," said Mr. Fitzgerald. "The Crown say the church was run for this defendant and he cloaked himself in the trappings of a religious leader.

"In reality he was nothing of the sort. He deceived his congregation, including children.

"He said he was going to cast out evil spirits from people and that discipline had to be administered by striking bare flesh with the bare hand."

He was found not guilty of two counts of indecent assault in relation to a third female worshipper; digital penetration; two child cruelty counts regarding a boy and causing actual bodily harm to a young girl.

Christian Holidays Boss Guilty Of Fraudulent Trading

A travel agent who specialises in Christian-themed holidays has been convicted of fraud after customers spent £26,000 on a 'Bible Lands Cruise'.

Bob Fleming, 62, didn't use the booking fees he charged to secure berths on the 'Thomson Spirit', but ploughed the money into a Turkish hotel venture.

He then encouraged his customers to fork out extra cash to extend their holiday to include a stay at the hotel he had leased and repaired, Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court heard.

Fleming, the boss of Living Sun Holidays, of Selwyn Road, New Malden denied, but was found guilty of two counts of fraudulent trading between January 1 and November 30, 2014.

He will be sentenced on April 13.

Prosecutor Mr. Richard Hallam told the jury: "Mr. Fleming was a travel agent and tour operator, who for thirty years arranged holidays in the UK and abroad.

"His specialism was Christian holidays and he was the director of Kyrilios Ltd and Living Sun Ltd., which traded under the name Living Sun Holidays.

"There was improper use of customers funds who had booked the cruise and he carried on the businesses for a fraudulent purpose."

Fleming was investigated by Trading Standards from the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames after receiving a complaint on October 17, 2014.

There was already an existing complaint from tour operator Thomson about Fleming using their name on his brochures.

He advertised the ten-day eastern Mediterranean cruise to his existing customers, which was due to begin in Turkey and conclude in Israel.

It would visit such historical destinations as the site of the Colossus of Rhodes; Byblos, Lebanon and the tour would also visit Jerusalem's Garden of Gethsemane.

The brochure claimed the cruise would include full-board, three meals a day, transfers and be led by Biblical experts Rev. Brian Fishel and Fleming himself.

"Mr. Fleming presses Thomson again and again for a free place for himself and by the time of the cruise his business is on the verge of failing."

Trading Standards traced fifteen customers who paid £26,000 to Fleming. "They thought they were securing a berth on a cruise ship.

"He should have paid for the cruise with that twenty-six thousand, but he didn't.

"It was channeled to his other business, a hotel he had leased in Turkey and he asked his customers to stay in that hotel.

"He used the money to renovate that hotel. It is dishonest, but Mr. Fleming said he did not see it as fraudulent," added Mr. Hallam.

Customers started asking for refunds when the cruise itinerary was changed because of trouble in the Gaza strip.

"Refunds were chased, but there had been no protection in place in the eyes of the law and he had lied that flights were ATOL-covered."

"Mr. Fleming never paid or confirmed the bookings with Thomson.

"He had to invent reasons why there were delays in refunds, including blaming Thomson's trading standards investigation.

"He had no right whatsoever to plough the money into the hotel in Turkey and quite incredibly some customers were invited to loan money to the hotel.

"He misused and lost their money in the business venture and had to fabricate why he had to cancel a cruise he had never booked.

"Two weeks before the cruise Mr. Fleming purported to cancel the cruise on the basis of an unsatisfactory itinerary. The cruise went ahead."

When questioned by Trading Standards Fleming blamed the Gaza re-route for wrecking the cruise, but conceded he: "Screwed up."

"It all started to unravel," he explained. "Money just vanishes."

Despite his financial troubles the prosecution accept Fleming did eventually take care of customers.

"Refunds were made to some people many moths later," said Mr. Hallam.

Fleming told the jury no customer had been left out of pocket.

"There are no debts, no one's owed any money.

"Yes, we made mistakes, but did not intend to mislead, deceive or defraud people.

"I don't believe I am guilty of an offence."