Lady Leshurr attacked ex-girlfriend and bit woman’s new partner, court hears

Rapper Lady Leshurr attacked her ex-girlfriend and bit the woman’s new partner in a late-night melee in east London, a court has heard.

The 35-year-old artist, real name Melesha O’Garro, is accused of assaulting her ex-partner Sidnee Hussein and Chante Boyea in the early hours of October 22 2022, Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London heard.

The former Dancing On Ice contestant, from Kingshurst, Birmingham, is on trial alongside Sherelle Smith, 29, from Yardley, Birmingham, who allegedly also assaulted Ms Hussein.

O’Garro denies two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and Smith denies one count of the same charge.

In her opening remarks on Monday, prosecutor Polly Dyer said: “In a nutshell, this is a case where in the early hours of the morning after a night out the defendants went and loitered outside one of their ex-girlfriend’s houses, before going on to attack the ex-girlfriend’s then new partner, followed by the ex-girlfriend.”

She added: “It was undeniably a relatively quick and dynamic incident, but the key issue you may think is who were the aggressors?”

Ms Boyea left the home of her then partner Ms Hussein at about 5am and was driving to work along Knotts Green Road, Walthamstow, when two women flagged down her car appearing to need her help, the court heard.

Ms Boyea slowed the car and a person she recognised as O’Garro got into the passenger seat of her vehicle and “started shouting at her”, Ms Dyer said.

Ms Boyea stopped the car and got out and O’Garro, who is known for her Queen’s Speech series of freestyles, followed her, the prosecutor added.

“Ms O’Garro came towards Ms Boyea and as she did so Ms Boyea put out her left hand to protect herself.

“As she did that the first defendant (O’Garro) bit her on the hand.

“I anticipate that Ms Boyea will also describe being punched by Ms O’Garro.”

Ms Boyea was able to contact Ms Hussein, who rushed from the house to her aid and was unwittingly followed by a pet dog, Kodi, after leaving the door open, Ms Dyer said.

Ms Dyer added: “Ms Hussein went to protect Ms Boyea from Ms O’Garro, as she did so she was attacked by Ms Smith.

“Ms Smith’s intervention caused Ms Hussein to fall and when Ms Hussein tried to speak to Ms O’Garro, she had to act to protect herself.”

Ms O’Garro attacked Ms Hussein while “shouting at her, calling her names, saying she was disgusting for dating her sister’s ex-partner” and also “kicked the dog” as it approached her, Ms Dyer alleged.

She said Ms Hussein “suffered a number of injuries” during the fracas.

The defendants ducked into a nearby home and were subsequently arrested after Ms Boyea called the police, Ms Dyer said.

During her police interview, O’Garro denied going outside her ex-partner’s house and said she did not know where it was, Ms Dyer said.

O’Garro had found out Ms Boyea was in a relationship with Ms Hussein a month before and told her she “felt disrespected”, Ms Dyer said, summarising her police interview.

The rapper feared Ms Hussein had been unfaithful to her and also noted that Ms Boyea was the ex-partner of Ms Hussein’s sister, Ms Dyer said.

O’Garro told police she was “bitten by the dog as Ms Boyea was directing it to get her” and that “she was punched in the head and stamped on by Ms Boyea”, Ms Dyer said.

Ms Dyer added: “She could not recall if she bit Ms Boyea but she would not do anything like that and did not think she would have been able to in any event.”

In her police interview, Smith said Ms Boyea had “called over O’Garro” and then “dragged” her into the car before later attacking her again, Ms Dyer said.

Ms Dyer said Smith further claimed that “Ms Hussein bit Ms Smith as she was pulling her away, and the dog bit her as well”, and that “Ms Boyea pulled her ponytail off, pulled her hair and punched her in the back of the head”.

The prosecutor added: “The prosecution say there were lies told in (the) interviews of the defendants, most strikingly about their visit to near to Ms Hussein’s address, and that the accounts given do not account for the injuries suffered by the complainants.”

She said the court is due to hear expert evidence about the bite mark to Ms Boyea’s hand, adding: “It is the prosecution case that it is consistent with a human bite mark.”

When they spoke to them shortly after the incident, police noted that the defendants also had injuries, including “what are asserted to be dog bites”, Ms Dyer said.

She added: “You may not find it surprising that the defendants, if they had acted as alleged by the complainants, suffered some injuries.

“You may think that if an individual is attacked in the presence of their dog that dog may act to defend them.”

In the dock, O’Garro was wearing a black suit, platform boots and hoop earrings, while Smith wore an ankle-length coat.

The trial continues.