An award-winning British songwriter and rapper has been convicted of assaulting his former fiancée.
Dylan Kwabena Mills, 34, of Sevenoaks, Kent, was convicted of assault by beating at a trial at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Monday, 7th March 2022.
Assault by beating, an offence contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody on summary conviction.
The court heard that Mills, who is better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, got into an argument with his former fiancée Cassandra Jones on Tuesday, 8th June 2021.
Mills and Ms Jones, who separated in February 2021, have two children together.
The rapper had just returned his daughter to Ms Jones' Streatham home when a row broke out over child contact.
The prosecution version of events, which has been accepted by the court, is that Mills barged his way into the property, banged his head into the fridge three times and began "screaming and shouting" at Ms Jones and her mother Dawn Kirk.
Ms Jones and Ms Kirk began filming the incident on their mobile phones, which enraged the rapper further and led to him putting his forehead against Ms Jones' and shoving her to the floor.
It is said that the couple's young son was present when the argument kicked off and certainly the children were nearby at the time of the assault.
The argument caused such a disturbance that neighbours alerted the police.
Mills' account, which was flatly rejected by District Judge Polly Gledhill, was that Ms Jones had actually assaulted him.
Announcing her decision, District Judge Gledhill said: "I am satisfied so that I am sure that on 8th June, Mr Mills, on returning home with the child late, lost his temper in an argument over child contact and finances."
The Judge added that Mills had been "abusive and aggressive" during the incident.
Mills' won a Mercury Prize for his 2003 debut solo album "Boy in da Corner". He was awarded an MBE for services to music in the 2020 Birthday Honours List, although his suitability for that award might now be reviewed.
A guilty verdict against such a high profile defendant would have been newsworthy in its own right, but Mills' decided to stoke the fires of publicity even further by shoving a Press Association photographer and petulantly smashing his camera on the way out of the court.
Mills was granted bail until his sentencing hearing at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Friday, 8th April 2022.
I wouldn't want to second guess the sentence on that occasion, but suffice to say assaulting someone in their own home with children present is a very serious matter.
No doubt we will hear more about the assault and criminal damaged perpetrated against Press Association photographer James Manning.
I'm not sure a trial will be necessary to determine that matter!
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