Southwark Crown Court Sentencing Results

Artem Kuts, 39, of the Isle of Dogs, was involved in possessing and supplying handguns and ammunition as part of a London-based organised crime group. On 12 October 2020, NCA surveillance teams watched as Kuts left his home carrying a brown paper bag and got into a black BMW 5 Series registered to Oliver Mark. The bag contained a Russian brand Baikal self-loading pistol and eight rounds of Makarov ammunition, found in the rear passenger footwell when armed officers stopped the car. A search of Kuts’ home revealed two more Baikals and 14 rounds of ammunition hidden in the garden, packaged heavily and wedged in the corner between the wall and a garden storage unit.

Chris Denning abused eleven boys, some as young as eight, in multiple sex offences. He had taken some victims to Top of the Pops recordings and introduced them to Jimmy Savile, even abusing one boy at Savile’s home. The offences occurred across the UK and Europe, with Denning having prior convictions for similar crimes dating back to 1959 in Germany and in the 1990s in Prague.

Ashok Mahajan attacked a barrister, a solicitor, and a pupil barrister by throwing hydrochloric acid at them in the High Court on October 15, 2009, after his race discrimination claim was dismissed. He smuggled the acid in a medicine bottle past security, causing burns to the victims, including a burned eye and melted clothing. Mahajan had a history of courtroom outbursts and believed he was targeted by a 'Nazi' plot by the legal profession.

Participated in a VAT fraud against HMRC between January 2011 and March 2014, involving fake Voice Over Internet Protocol airtime trades used to offset VAT owed by a Midlands-based company from genuine trade in electrical goods and wholesale metals, causing more than £20 million to be withheld from the public revenue.

Walid Anis Choucair, an experienced day trader, received inside information from Fabiana Abdel-Malek about proposed mergers and acquisitions. He traded in Contracts for Difference through an offshore company and made approximately £1.4 million profit from the five charged offences. The offences related to five companies: Vodafone Group Plc’s acquisition of Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (June 2013), Essex Property Trust Inc’s acquisition of BRE Properties Inc. (November – December 2013), LG Household & Healthcare Ltd’s potential acquisition of Elizabeth Arden Inc. (April 2014), American Realty Capital Partners’ potential acquisition of NorthStar Realty Finance Corporation (April 2014), and Energy Transfer Equity LP’s potential acquisition of Targa Resources Corporation (June 2014). He was convicted after an eleven-week trial.

Walid Choucair, an experienced day trader, received inside information from Fabiana Abdel-Malek and made approximately £1.4 million profit from trading. He was convicted of five offences of insider dealing in 2013/4.

As CFO of Redcentric Plc, Tim Coleman inflated the company's cash position presented to the board and key investors. This led to the publication of false and misleading unaudited interim results in November 2015 (overstating cash by £13.1m) and audited final results in June 2016 (overstating cash by £12.2m). Shareholders suffered losses when the true position was revealed. He was found guilty of two offences of making false and misleading statements to the market and three offences of false accounting.

Taheer Sardar was interviewed by the FCA as part of an investigation into a boiler room scam that defrauded 120 investors of £1.3m. Acting with Mr Mirza, he provided a forged document claiming it had been signed by 'Mohammed Khan' in order to bolster a defence raised by Raheel Mirza and Opeyemi Solaja. The FCA did not find that Mr Sardar was involved in the fraud itself, but he provided the document to mislead the FCA.

Tavius Jean Charles, 35, from Hackney, shouted death threats at Jewish people in north London between October 2025 and March 2026, including threats to kill Jews and a suggestion to blow up a Jewish school. He also committed religiously aggravated criminal damage, such as smashing a car window. He was arrested on 24 March 2026. He was also sentenced for possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply (June 2024) and possession of cannabis (August 2024).

Tyrel Benjamin, 25, from Harrow, was caught in a covert police operation by the Met and South East Regional Organised Crime Unit after paying £150 to abuse a child. He had a previous 12-month suspended sentence for possessing indecent images. His latest offences included attempting to pay for a child’s sexual services, arranging child sex offences, breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and distributing indecent images. On Friday, 15 November, he was sentenced to seven years in prison with an additional two years on extended licence at Southwark Crown Court.

In January 2012, Constantin and Valentina Mihai purchased a vulnerable 20-year-old woman for €10,000 in Romania and trafficked her to Ilford, East London, where she was forced to work as a prostitute for three years. Her identity documents were stolen, and she endured regular beatings, was fed alcohol and cocaine to keep her compliant, and was monitored through her phone. The woman escaped in April 2015 by saving for a plane ticket to Hungary. The family laundered money from the prostitution through money service bureaux and couriers.

Sunainah Amber, 23, from Islington, was diagnosed with epilepsy after suffering a fit at home on July 7, 2024. Despite being instructed by her doctor not to drive for a year and to inform the DVLA, she ignored this and on November 12, 2024, drove her mother's Toyota Yaris with her friend as passenger along Regent Street, Coventry Street, towards Piccadilly Circus. At traffic lights near the landmark, while in the midst of an epileptic fit, she lost control, accelerated forward, mounted the pavement, struck the pedestrian knocking him into the Horse of Helios fountain, and crashed into a lamppost outside the Angus Steakhouse restaurant just before 7pm. Her friend suffered a fractured leg and psychological distress after attempting to escape the vehicle. The pedestrian sustained cuts, bruises, and bleeding on the brain.

Zoe Coutts, the victim's mother, failed to protect her two-year-old son from abuse by her boyfriend Scott O'Connor at their home in Bromley, south-east London. On 25 April 2022, the victim was found unconscious with severe brain damage and abdominal injuries. Coutts sobbed on the floor instead of helping. She cancelled social services visits when the victim had visible bruising, including heavy black eyes on 9 April 2022, and ignored his injuries. Texts showed she was aware of the abuse.

Mayowa Christopher was part of an organised group that tricked trade customers and individuals into paying money into wrong bank accounts by pretending to work for their bank or legitimate businesses. Linked to offences including one in July 2019 where a woman was defrauded of £4,200 after scammers demonstrated knowledge of her direct debits and sent fake emails with one-time passwords. Also linked to two other victims losing £7,369 total, with evidence of his computer used to access accounts and bank cards used to launder money.

Mark Lyttleton, a former Equity Portfolio Manager at BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, used inside information obtained through his employment to instruct trades via a Panamanian company (Huduno Invest S.A.) set up in his wife’s maiden name. He traded in EnCore Oil Plc shares (realising profits of £44,125) and Cairn Energy Plc call options in 2011, concealing the activity with unregistered phones and cash payments. He was arrested in 2013 following an FCA investigation.

Michael Konnor headed a gang that laundered £23.4 million between January 2018 and June 2020. Despite arrest in December 2019, he continued laundering over £4.5 million using companies and third-party accounts. Incriminating EncroChat messages discussed kidnap and extortion in the context of cash collection.

Martyn Dodgson, a senior investment banker employed by Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank, conspired with Andrew Hind to commit insider dealing between November 2006 and March 2010. Dodgson sourced inside information from the investment banks and passed it to Hind, who carried out secret dealing for their mutual benefit. The pair used unregistered mobile phones, encoded records and cash payments to avoid detection. The FCA proved five specific acts of insider dealing involving Scottish & Newcastle plc, Paragon Group of Companies plc, Just Retirement plc, Legal & General plc and BSkyB plc.

Mahrah Al Nahyan admitted child neglect after being found incapacitated near railings in west London on June 13, 2026, while a three-year-old child was left unsupervised near a busy road. She had used cocaine in the days before the incident. The sentencing hearing took place at Southwark Crown Court, where she received a two-year community order with a rehabilitation requirement, a £5,000 fine, and an order to pay £1,000 in prosecution costs.

Former chief executive officer of collapsed investment firm London Capital & Finance plc (LCF), Michael Thomson, sold luxury items including horse saddles and a hot tub while under court restrictions imposed by a Serious Fraud Office restraint order. This is part of an SFO investigation into suspected fraud at LCF that led to 11,000 investors losing over £237m between 2014 and 2019.

Mohammed Zina was found guilty of six offences of insider dealing and three offences of fraud following a 12-week trial at Southwark Crown Court brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). He was sentenced to 22 months in prison.

Laura Lee admitted cheating at gambling by placing bets on the date of the 2024 general election. She and her husband stood to win more than £23,000 had their cheating not been uncovered.

Laura Saunders was head of international at Conservative Campaign Headquarters and had been selected to stand in the Bristol North West constituency. She and her husband placed bets worth more than £2,000 on the date of the 2024 general election after inside information was received from a Downing Street meeting.

Kavaljitsinh Raijada, 35, from Hanwell in Ealing, along with his partner, operated a front company called Viefly Freight Services to export 514kg of cocaine worth up to £57 million to Australia concealed in metal toolboxes on commercial flights. The drugs were part of 15 cocaine consignments among 37 total shipments since June 2019. Raijada had worked at a Heathrow flight services company and used his knowledge of freight procedures. His fingerprints were on the packaging and toolbox receipts were found at their home. He was arrested in June 2021 and again in February 2023. Large amounts of cash and assets were seized, including nearly £3 million hidden in a storage unit rented in his mother's name.

Julian Rifat, a former senior execution trader and portfolio strategist at Moore Europe Capital Management LLC, passed inside information obtained during his employment to an associate, Graeme Shelley, who then traded for their joint benefit. This occurred during the latter half of 2009 and related to some of the largest transactions in the UK financial markets.

Participated in a complex VAT fraud against HMRC between January 2011 and March 2014, using fake Voice Over Internet Protocol airtime trades to offset VAT owed by a Midlands-based company from genuine trade in electrical goods and wholesale metals, resulting in more than £20 million being withheld from the public revenue.