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Friday 18 January 2013

Dappy Found Guilty Of Affray (Full Story)

The N-Dubz rapper Dappy has been found guilty of affray in connection with a brawl at a petrol station.

The 25-year-old, charged under his real name of Costadinos Contostavlos, was also convicted by a jury at Guildford crown court in Surrey of a charge of assault by beating which involved him spitting at a man. He was cleared of two charges of common assault in which he was accused of spitting at, but missing, two 19-year-old women.

The week-long trial heard that Dappy had been out on 27 February last year celebrating the release of his single Rockstar featuring the Queen guitarist Brian May.

After spending the night in the VIP area of the Casino nightclub in Guildford, Dappy was travelling back with friends in three cars to the studios in Godalming where he was recording his debut solo album when they stopped at a Shell garage in Woodbridge Road, Guildford, at about 3.30am on 28 February.

Brian Stork, prosecuting, claimed Dappy approached Grace Cochran and Serena Burton, both 19, who were sitting on the kerb outside the station shop and tried to persuade them to get into the car with him to continue the party at the studios.

The court was told they refused these advances and began to ridicule him, and Dappy allegedly became angry and called them sluts.

He was then accused of spitting at them but missing – the two counts of common assault faced by the singer.

Stork said a man called David Jenkins, who had been talking to the two women, stepped in to protect them but was spat at by Dappy. This spitting, which hit Jenkins, makes up the charge of assault by beating.

The trial was told that saliva was found on Jenkins' T-shirt, which had a DNA link to Dappy with one-in-a-billion probability that it came from someone unrelated to him.

The court heard that Jenkins put the rapper in a headlock, leading to several other people joining in the fight.

Jenkins suffered several broken teeth in the fight while another man, Oliver Billson, suffered a swollen eye and Christopher Gibson suffered a broken nose.

Dappy denied making advances on the two women and told the court that he only spoke to them to promote his single.

He denied spitting at them and Jenkins, and said his actions were simply self-defence to get out of the headlock.

The defence said Cochran and Burton were "unreliable witnesses" as they had sent Twitter and BlackBerry messages stating how they intended to sell their stories to the national newspapers. Burton also sent a message stating that she could not remember what had happened and that she would "bullshit" when she gave evidence.

Dappy, dressed in a black V-neck sweater, sighed and shook his head when the verdicts were announced.

Two other defendants, Kieran Vassell, 25, of Hammersmith, west London, and Kalonji Stewart, 32, of Harborne, Birmingham, both denied affray and said they acted to protect Dappy. Vassell was found guilty and Stewart was found not guilty.

A fourth man, Alfred Miller, 28, of Brentford, west London, has pleaded guilty to affray and his case was adjourned for sentence at the end of the trial.

The jury, made up of eight men and four women, took eight hours to reach its verdicts.

Judge Neil Stewart adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports to be prepared on Dappy and Vassell. Sentencing will be carried out on 15 February and the pair were released on unconditional bail until then.

Buy his album "Bad Intentions" here: http://kippromotions.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/thedappy-bad-intentions-album-out-now.html

For Music Videos and more by Dappy go to: http://kippromotions.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Dappy

Dappy, whose real name is Costadinos Contostavlos, outside Guildford crown court. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

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