Dizzee Rascal: Grime artist guilty of assaulting former partner

The chart-topping rapper had denied assault by beating

Grime artist Dizzee Rascal has been found guilty of assaulting his former partner.

The rapper, whose real name is Dylan Kwabena Mills, attacked Cassandra Jones at a property in Streatham, south London, in June 2021.

The 37-year-old, of Sevenoaks, Kent, "barged" his way into the house, put his forehead against Ms Jones' and "pushed her to the ground".

The couple had two children before they split up in February 2021.

At Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Monday, the musician - whose chart-topping singles have included Bonkers and Dance Wiv Me - had denied assault by beating.

The court heard Mills "barged" his way into the property on 8 June, with his son under his arms before "screaming and shouting" and banging his own head on the fridge three times.

He then approached Ms Jones, "put his forehead against hers and pushed her around the room" and then "pushed her to the ground", the court heard.

He had accused her of causing injuries to his arm.

The grime artist was made an MBE for services to music in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2020

The court heard how Ms Jones began filming him but he took her phone from her and then took the phone from her mother, Dawn Kirk, who was there.

The shouting became so loud it alerted two neighbours and police were called.

When they arrived, Mills said "I'm the aggressor", but later gave a prepared statement in a police interview, denying the allegations and claimed he had been assaulted by Ms Jones, the court heard.

Delivering her verdict, District Judge Polly Gledhill said Mills had lost his temper in an argument over child contact and finances.

She added he was "abusive and aggressive" and "assaulted her as outlined by the Crown".

Following the verdict, Mills took a camera from a Press Association photographer outside the court and threw it into a road, smashing it.

A Press Association photographer said Mills smashed his camera outside court

Photographer, James Manning, said: "He came out of the court, I was taking his picture, just standing still on the corner.

"He then pushed my camera into my face, which then caused it to fall to the floor, at which point he then picked it up and then threw it across the road. It smashed into a lot of pieces.

"He was angry, he came straight out of the door, didn't say anything, didn't say anything until the point at which he pushed my camera.

"I think he said something like 'get away' or 'get out of my face' or something along those lines."

Det Con Hannah Barton said she wanted to "praise the woman who Mills assaulted - she has shown immense strength throughout this investigation".

"No woman should be subjected to violence of any form and I would urge anyone who finds themselves in this position to trust police - we will investigate and you will be provided with the support you need to help you through," she added.

Mills released his debut album, Boy In Da Corner, in 2003, and is due to release his seventh album later this year.

In 2020, he was made an MBE for services to music in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

He will be sentenced at Croydon Magistrates' Court on 8 April.