They include sexually abusive teacher from Eltham, a Chistlehurst knifeman, a famous rapper from Lewisham who shot a man, and the curious case of a ‘dead’ woman who appeared in court very much alive.
Dad stabbed in front of his baby at Chislehurst memorial
Mekseb Eyobraya had arranged to meet his ex-partner at the memorial at 3pm on June 8 last year to pick up the baby.
But her new man, Fatih Hassan, also turned up carrying a knife which he used to stab Mekseb in the thigh and back.
There was no animosity between any of the parties prior to this meeting and lawyers were at a loss to explain what provoked Hassan to carry out the near-fatal attack.
Hassan, 31, of Avalon Road in Orpington, was jailed for 14 years.
Eltham teacher avoided prison for ‘twisted’ pupil relationship
David Howard, then aged 24, was an English teacher at Crown Woods Secondary School in 2002 when he struck up a “warped” relationship with a girl at the school.
Over the course of several months they met up outside school, exchanged letters and once engaged in a sexual act in a classroom cupboard after school.
Almost two decades later she disclosed the abusive relationship to the police and Howard, now aged 47, was charged with abuse of trust by engaging in sexual activity.
Reading a statement in front of her abuser in court, she said: “Predators like him are able to identify children like me who are vulnerable, and they target us.”
She continued: “The grooming was so powerful that it that it locked me into believing for a decade that I had been in a consenting relationship.”
She described the relationship as an “open secret” at the school and said she even showed another teacher letters sent by Mr Howard.
“I hope the other teachers feel a tenth of the shame I feel for not speaking out at the time,” she said.
Howard was given a six month sentence suspended for a year and a half.
Six hour armed police stand-off at Plumstead cemetery
Jack Pullen phoned 999 on September 7 last year to say he was at Plumstead Cemetery armed with a gun.
When armed police arrived at the scene they saw that the 31-year-old was holding a weapon to his own head, he then threatened to kill himself if his ex-partner was not brought to the scene.
During the six-hour stand-off with armed police Pullen drank vodka and used nitrous oxide.
Whilst the gun was primarily pointed at himself, at times it was raised towards the officers.
Eventually police took the decision to fire a rubber baton round at Pullen’s torso, causing him to fall to the ground and drop the gun.
He was then tasered and taken to hospital.
When interviewed by police Pullen said he was suicidal and had faced the gun towards officers in the hope they would shoot him.
Pullen was sentenced to four months in custody.
Woman falsely declared dead by fraudster in battle for Plumstead home
June Ashimola, 55, bought the property on Warland Road in 2003 then left it behind when she returned to Nigeria in 2018.
It was claimed that she then died in February 2019 and that subsequent sightings of Ms Ashimola since her death were actually a woman “masquerading” as her.
Her £347,000 home then fell to Bakare Olatoye Lasisi, who said he married Ms Ashimola in 1993, and Ruth Samuel, who holds a power of attorney over Mr Lasisi.
Ms Ashimola had given evidence by videolink from Nigeria and although her testimony was “unsatisfactory” in part due to the quality of the call, she was able to show her recently-expired Nigerian passport which convinced the judge that she was who she said she was.
The judge also found that Ms Ashimola’s marriage in 1993 was a work of fiction and that Mr Lasisi did not even exist.
The judge identified convicted fraudster Tony Ashikodi “orchestrated” the scheme – Ashikodi was jailed for three years in 1996 for conspiring to and/or obtaining property by deception.
Bexleyheath dad sent sexual message to young girls
A jury found 43-year-old Stephen Baughen guilty of sexual offences involving three different young girls.
The court heard Baughen had sent sexual messages to the first 14-year-old girl on Instagram.
“The content of these messages was clearly sexual. He told her she was sexy and told her he would buy her sexy underwear,” Mr Gold said.
He later invited her shopping and told her he would “spoil her rotten”.
Around the same time, he was messaging another 14-year-old.
The court heard that over the course of several months he sent her sexual messages including a photo of an erect penis, presumed to be his.
Baughen was later arrested on suspicion of these offences but released under investigation.
In August 2023 he then went on to send sexual messages to another young girl, this time a 13-year-old.
“The young girl responded by calling him a nonce,” Mr Gold told the court.
Baughen was jailed for six years after a judge concluded he was a danger to young girls.
Lewisham rapper DigDat tried to kill man
The artist, real name Nathan Tokosi, attempted to murder a 27-year-old man on November 20, 2023.
Police were called to Clydesdale Road in Notting Hill at 2.05am, after a car pulled up to another car and a passenger began to shoot.
The victim was found severely inured, being shot in the body, mouth and head.
A stolen car was found abandoned in Allington Road, Queen’s Park.
Police then found a black bag with a handgun and ammunition and forensic officers found DigDat’s DNA inside the car.
The rapper was arrested in Lewisham on February 16 last year after his car was stopped by police.
His address was then searched and another gun with ammunition was found.
DigDat rose to fame in 2018 with the release of his single Air Force, which peaked at number 20 in the UK Singles Charts.
The rapper has since amassed more than 450,000 followers on Instagram and was signed to Sony Music.
