Southwark Crown Court Sentencing Results

Stephen Lewis Allen forged a trust deed to hide Renwick Haddow’s interest in a London property worth more than £1m, in an attempt to help his client minimise restitution payments of £16.9 million owed to victims of unauthorised collective investment schemes. The property has since been sold and proceeds distributed to investors. Allen knew the deed would be used to avoid the property being sold for the benefit of victims.

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.