GUILTY UK - Lea Adri-Soejoko, 80, slain, Colindale, London, 28 Feb 2017

[Tortoise]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017...ium_in_1966_and_polic-m-111_1488819724954.jpg

 

[Tortoise]

An Iranian immigrant accused of strangling a grandmother with the cord of her anorak and dumping her body in an allotment will now stand trial in January next year. [2018]

http://courtnewsuk.co.uk/allotment-murder-trial-put-back-2018/
article dated 22nd June 2017

 

[Tortoise]

An Iranian immigrant has denied strangling a grandmother to death with a lawn mower cable and locking her body in a shed.
Rahim Mohammadi, 40, is accused of killing 80-year-old Lea Adri-Soejoko in her allotment in Colindale, north London on February 27.
Her body was found the next day inside a padlocked communal maintenance shed when police heard her mobile phone ringing.

--


A post-mortem found the cause of her death was ligature of the neck from the cable of a lawnmower stored in the shed and the cord of her own anorak.
Mohammadi, who moved to Britain ten years ago and had his own plot at the allotments, was charged with murder on 5 March.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-murdering-grandmother-80.html#ixzz4mQ1JOyQN
article dated 23rd May 2017

 

[Legally Bland]

Lea Adri-Soejoko, 80, was found dead at the north-west London allotments she was secretary for in February 2017.

The killer must have been a tenant at Colindale allotments because they had a key to padlock the shed Mrs Adri-Soejoko was found in, prosecutors said on the first day of the trial.

Committee member Rahim Mohammadi, 41, from Hackney, denies murder.

Mrs Adri-Soejoko - also known by her maiden name, Hulselman - was reported missing at 01:40 GMT on 28 February.

Her body was found 20 minutes later.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42610779


On Monday, the court heard Mrs Adri-Soejoko had been beaten up by Mohammadi, leaving her with fractured ribs and bruises.

To stop her reporting the assault, he allegedly throttled her with the starter cord of a Mountfield lawnmower stored in the lock-up where she was found.

As a committee member, he had his own key to the mower shed which had been locked from the outside with Mrs Adri-Soejoko's body in it, with her keys in her pocket, the court heard.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/cri...th-lawnmower-cord-and-hidden-in-a3734976.html


Jurors have heard that Adri-Soejoko’s family and friends became concerned after she failed to turn up for an allotment society meeting. In the early hours of the next morning, police followed the sound of her ringing phone and found her body inside a locked shed on the allotment used to store mowers. The starter cord of a lawnmower had been wrapped around her neck.

Price told jurors that Mohammadi spent five hours at the allotment on the day of the killing and was seen by two other plot holders. As a committee member, he had his own key to the mower shed, which had been locked from the outside with Adri-Soejoko’s body in it, with her keys in her pocket.

The defendant’s DNA was found on the part of lawnmower cord he allegedly used to strangle her.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...a-adri-soejoko-volatile-reputation-court-told


She said: 'Everything with the allotment tends to be quite passionate. People care. This AGM, there were a lot of people talking over one another.

'And my grandmother wasn't able to chair the meeting as she intended to. Rahim had been louder than the rest, by his general nature.

'So my grandmother had said, 'shut up', so she could chair the meeting. To which he took offence, and shouted at her.

'One of the insults she specifically said was he called her a '*****' in front of everyone.

'I guess she was concerned about it.

'He referred to her as a 'f*****g b***h', before he left the meeting.'

She added: 'She was definitely concerned. She definitely knew there was something wrong with that situation.

'And I knew she felt she had a role to play in him reacting like that to her, which upset me.

'She had told me not to tell the rest of the family about that incident, but I did tell my mum. She didn't want them to worry.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...fearing-hed-lose-allotment.html#ixzz53hZw93tb
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook


DNA of a second man, Mubarick Duat, was also identified on the victim's hand but police he had been "thoroughly investigated" and had no connection with the defendant, victim or the allotment.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/53023...rangled-with-lawnmower-cord-at-her-allotment/


Prosecutor John Price QC told jurors: “The DNA of Mr Duat on the right hand of Mrs Adri-Soejoko is likely to have got there not very long before her hand was swabbed and, if during her life, not long before she died.”


Mr Duat became a second suspect and was “thoroughly investigated”, the court was told, but no connection with the defendant, victim or the allotment was found.


On the day of the killing, police established that he was working as a kitchen porter at a Covent Garden restaurant and then went to Croydon, according to mobile phone data.


He later bought a National Express bus ticket at Victoria in central London and took a coach to Stockton the following day, jurors heard.


Mr Price said: “However it got there, and even if it was on the 27th, the DNA of Mubarick Duat found on the right hand of Mrs Adri-Soejoko could not, in light of the other evidence, have been deposited as a result of direct contact on that day between her and him. He could not have been involved in her murder, whether acting alone or with anyone else.”

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/stockton-trip-helped-clear-allotment-14132106

ETA: More at the Mail link.

 

[Tortoise]

That's odd about the DNA on her hand. Thinking he (Duat) must have a record for police to have identified who it belonged to.

Thanks for all the links LB.

 

[Legally Bland]

That's odd about the DNA on her hand. Thinking he (Duat) must have a record for police to have identified who it belonged to.

Thanks for all the links LB.

Yeah, it's strange. Not sure what to make of it.

 

[Tortoise]

Giving evidence, Mrs Adri-Soejoko's daughter Tessa said her mother would talk to her about problems on the allotment.

..

"She did not argue with me when I scolded her about the confrontation.
"I said to her that she could not speak to Rahim in that way, that he's not family."

..

The witness said she had met Mr Mohammadi several times at her mother's house.

..

Colindale Allotment Association chairman Clive Critchley told jurors [...] On the day of the killing, Mohammadi had texted him twice, about meeting his psychotherapist and to report that another plot-holder had complained about his neighbour, the court heard.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42634353

 

[Tortoise]

The court heard that before the AGM, Mohammadi and Mrs Adri-Soejoko had been friendly and he was known to her as “Little Puppy”.

But after the bust-up she allegedly felt unsafe around him and began to distance herself from him.

Tyrone Smith, QC, defending, suggested Mohammadi had used the word “witch”, not “*****”, in the row.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/9...-Mohammadi-murder-volatile-court-trial-murder

 

[Legally Bland]

The court heard that before the AGM, Mohammadi and Mrs Adri-Soejoko had been friendly and he was known to her as “Little Puppy”.

But after the bust-up she allegedly felt unsafe around him and began to distance herself from him.

Tyrone Smith, QC, defending, suggested Mohammadi had used the word “witch”, not “*****”, in the row.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/9...-Mohammadi-murder-volatile-court-trial-murder

F****** b**** or f****** witch?

I don't think it makes too much difference.

Colindale Allotment Association chairman Clive Critchley told jurors that Mr Mohammadi was one of three people who frequently used the mower shed where Mrs Adri-Soejoko's body was found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42634353

Not sure how relevant RM's DNA is yet.

 

[Tortoise]

More from yesterday (sounds like he could have been in psychotherapy for 10 years+):
(bbm)


Iranian Rahim Mohammadi wanted 80-year-old Lea Adri-Soejoko to retire from her job as secretary of the Colindale Allotment Association so he could manage it himself, it was claimed.

..

Association chairman Clive Critchley told jurors how Mohammadi had sworn and walked out of the AGM when she said evictions should be decided by the whole committee and 'not by you Rahim'.

..

Mr Critchley told jurors he had met Mohammadi in 2006 when he was a patient of Freedom from Torture.
The organisation to help torture victims suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder through horticulture and psychotherapy had allocated plots on the allotment, he said.

On the day of Mrs Adri-Soejoko's death, Mohammadi had texted him twice, about meeting his psychotherapist


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ed-victim-bloody-old-witch.html#ixzz53s9x56pt

 

[Tortoise]

Celso Gomez told of an "hour-long" dispute with Mr Mohammadi at Colindale allotments in north London in 2012.

..
"This man came out of his shed as I walked across his plot, saying I was looking through his window. He was drunk and started pushing me," Mr Gomez told jurors.

"He started shouting at me that he was going to kill me. This incident lasted about an hour."

Cross-examining, Tyrone Smith QC said: "You realise some people do not like it when other people start walking on their plot. Many people regard it as bad manners if you do not ask someone if you can walk on their plot.

"Around this time had there been reports of thefts from the allotments?"

Mr Gomez agreed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42650807

 

[Legally Bland]

This is nothing like how I pictured allotment life. I don't think it got copied over here, but there was another incident of a woman threatening someone with a knife.

Jurors were also told that a plot holder, Mohamadi Shahroudi, 64, had delivered a letter to Ms Adri-Soejoko just days before her death, complaining of two women who were targeting him with abuse. He claimed one woman had accused him of rape two years previously but police had dropped the investigation, and that her friend was now threatening to get her family to beat him up.

“I believe this [sic] peoples have mental problems, I need my peace and quiet environment to be relaxed and continue my medication,” he wrote. “I do not come to my yard as often as I used to, I come when she’s not here — I cannot tolerate their threatening and bullying.”

The court heard that the second woman, Sima Fard, was a friend of the defendant.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/allotment-murder-suspect-threatened-to-kill-me-0r62w2sqn

 

[Tortoise]

This is nothing like how I pictured allotment life. I don't think it got copied over here, but there was another incident of a woman threatening someone with a knife.

:giggle:

Me neither! Unbelievable.

I think this case could be a challenge for the jury.

 

[Tortoise]

Allotment murder probe: Detectives hunting man offer £20,000 reward

Detectives seeking a man in connection with the murder of an 80-year-old grandmother found in an allotment are offering a £20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

A 40-year-old man was charged with the murder of Ms Adri-Soejoko, also known by her maiden name of Lea Hulselmans, on March 5.

The Metropolitan Police are seeking Mubarick Duat, who is also known as Mubarick Duah, Kwaka Duah and Mubarice Duah along with numerous other aliases.

The public was warned not to approach the 37-year-old, who is described as black, slim and 5ft 8ins and "can be violent", the force said.

Read more:-

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/799681/Allotment-murder-probe-man-hunt-reward-information

[FONT=&amp]Ghanaian national Mubarick Duat, 37, was detained and taken to a south London police station for questioning following an appeal to trace him, but he has now been released.

http://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/n...nd_man_arrested_in_allotment_murder_released/
[/FONT]

I had forgotten about this. Just bringing it forward as a refresher.

 

[Legally Bland]

No reporting from Friday (that I can find) and just this from yesterday.

A gardener accused of strangling his 80-year-old allotment secretary with a mower cord claimed the victim had told him: ‘This place is becoming dangerous,’ a court heard. Rahim Mohammadi, 41, allegedly murdered widow Lea Adri-Soejoko to stop her complaining after he attacked her during a confrontation at the site in Colindale, northwest London. Mohammadi had complained other gardener’s music was too loud and threatened to kill one plot holder for looking through his shed window, the Old Bailey heard.

http://courtnewsuk.co.uk/elderly-allotment-secretary-told-alleged-killer-place-becoming-dangerous/

 

[Legally Bland]

Finally a bit more reporting:

Mr Suleman, 57, said: ‘She liked all of us except a Kurdish Iranian man called Rahim. She was saying Rahim was crazy and she was scared of him too much.

‘I do not know all the reasons but she said Rahim had keys for the shop and storage and items and money was missing and except Rahim no one else had access. She said Rahim was crazy and she was frightened.’

Mr Suleman said: ‘He pushed me from behind and threw me. I fell on top of the pots. The Italian man came and pulled us apart. If it had not been for the Italian man I would have been at greater danger.’

Mohammadi then apologised repeatedly and gave him a cup of tea, the court heard.

Mr Suleman claimed that he feared for his life when Mohammadi launched another violent attack more than a month later.

But in 2016 Mohammadi attacked him after he told an Italian plotholder that Mohammadi had stolen vegetables from the allotment.

[...]

‘He was in an angry mood, I told him to go away. He picked me up, lifted me up and knocked me against the edge of the table by the doorway.

‘He pounded me on the ground, I was shouting help, help help. He placed his right leg on my chest, with his left hand he was covering my mouth.

‘My eyes were building out and I felt I was dying. Eventually he calmed down and it was as if God tried to help me.’

After the attack, Mohammadi ‘started crying like a child’ and begged for forgiveness, the court heard.

Mr Suleman said he was not at the allotment on the day of the murder.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ring-80-year-old-allotment.html#ixzz551dh5147
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[Interested Bystander]

Looks as though this guy will be found mentally ill and sent to a secure hospital. He has not pleaded not guilty due to insanity but it seems as though it will be difficult to pin a straightforward murder verdict on him. Thoughts anyone?

 

[Tortoise]

Looks as though this guy will be found mentally ill and sent to a secure hospital. He has not pleaded not guilty due to insanity but it seems as though it will be difficult to pin a straightforward murder verdict on him. Thoughts anyone?

I think if it can be shown that he did it, and that he first beat her up and then strangled her to stop him from being identified as the perpetrator he will be convicted of murder. Because he had the presence of mind to cover his tracks and try and get away with it. It seems to me as if the strangulation was a premeditated killing rather than the beating up which may have been manslaughter or part of a mental disorder.

 

[Tortoise]

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:12
Trial (Part Heard) - Defence RAHIM MOHAMMADI Case Opened - 11:38
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 11:55 - 11:43
Trial (Part Heard) - Defendant Sworn - 12:05
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 14:05 - 13:02

http://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Central-Criminal-Court.php

 

[Legally Bland]

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:12
Trial (Part Heard) - Defence RAHIM MOHAMMADI Case Opened - 11:38
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 11:55 - 11:43
Trial (Part Heard) - Defendant Sworn - 12:05
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 14:05 - 13:02

http://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Central-Criminal-Court.php

That's unfortunate timing, the defendant in the Celine Dookhran case was sworn in at 11.30, also at the Old Bailey. Hopefully we'll get reporting on both.