Dizzee Rascal is found guilty of assaulting his ex-fiancée

Rapper Dizzee Rascal has been found guilty of assaulting the mother of his children.

The 37-year-old award-winning grime star, real name Dylan Mills, was accused of assaulting ex-fiancee Cassandra Jones by pressing his forehead against hers and pushing her to the ground during a ‘chaotic’ row at a residential property in Streatham, south London, on June 8 last year.

Mills, who was behind chart-topping singles Bonkers and Dance Wiv Me, had two children with Ms Jones before they split in February 2021. 

After Mills was arrested following the incident in June, Mills told police ‘she assaulted me’ and that she had left him with a scratch on his left arm.

Mills, who had denied the charge, was today found guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court.

The court was previously read a statement Mills had made to the police after he was arrested, in which he denied assaulting Ms Jones. 

The statement added: ‘I deny pushing her to the floor… she assaulted me, which scratched my left arm, which has been documented by the nurse at the police station.’

The court heard that Mills and Ms Jones, who had been together for nine years before their split, argued when Mills dropped off their daughter on the day of the alleged assault.

The prosecution alleged that Mills ‘barged’ his way into the property with his son under his arms before ‘screaming and shouting’ and banging his head on the fridge three times.

Mills is said to have approached Ms Jones, ‘put his forehead against hers and pushed her around the room’ and then ‘pushed her to the ground’, the court heard. 

Wimbledon Magistrates Court was told he had taken his daughter on a day out, but was stuck in traffic as he travelled to drop her home.

He told the court Ms Jones was bombarding him with calls and texts, asking whether they would be back by 5pm in time for a chicken dinner.

He sent her texts which said ‘shut up, don’t give me no lip’ and ‘shut your f****** mouth’ before the row, but denied he was annoyed at the time, the court heard.

On the morning before the alleged assault, he claimed Ms Jones had ripped up their daughter’s Crocs in front of him.

He said: ‘She and her mum were waving their phones around.

‘I didn’t want them used as a weapon.

‘When the police arrived I said “I am the aggressor” but I was making light of it and trying to diffuse the situation.

‘I was not the aggressor, I did not do anything to her physically.

‘I ended up with two small marks because she was waving her phone around.

‘Those marks came from her. She was erratic. She assaulted me by pushing me and scratching my left arm.

‘I did not assault her that day.’

He continued: ‘She ripped the Crocs in front of me. Why would you rip your child’s shoes up and then tell me to go to the shop.

‘I was angry, I was angry at times yes. I was annoyed at her, she was shouting in my face and she was angry.

‘At the police station I waited so long, the scratches I had when I arrived had become bruises.’

During today’s trial, a statement from champion boxer David Haye, who has known the artist for more than 10 years, was read as evidence of Mills’ good character.

The former world heavyweight champion said: ‘I would describe Dylan as a stand-up and down-to-earth kind of man.

‘Dylan is a very easy individual to get along with.

‘He remained humble, having built himself up from nothing. He would rarely be seen out at celebrity social functions for the simple reason that he prefers to stay at home and spend time with his family.’

Mr Haye described Mills as a ‘role-model father’.

He added: ‘It is Dylan’s relationship with his children that I admire the most – despite his fame he always made time for his children.

‘I have never seen Dylan lose his temper nor display any signs of anger.

‘He was always calm and collected, he would not let anything fluster him.’ 

The court also heard from Mills’ ex-girlfriend, Tanya Chehrehnegary, who said she was ‘shocked’ when she heard about the allegations.

‘There have been many situations where your average person would get quite defensive but he’s always dealt with things in a very calm and collected manner,’ she said.

‘Whenever we argued he would always remove himself from the situation and always end it on a funny note where I would end up laughing about something and that would be the end of it.’ 

In her testimony in February, Ms Jones described her ex-fiancé as ‘a ticking time bomb’, explaining that she was calm when he arrived on the doorstep with their daughter as she knew he was in a bad mood and did not want to anger him.

She gave evidence from behind a screen at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court in the previous appearance, sobbing throughout her testimony. 

PC Stephanie Johnstone said she arrested the rapper for common assault after he told her: ‘I’m the aggressor.’ But he later denied the assault in interviews.

The court was shown the officer’s bodyworn footage of Ms Jones sitting on the floor tearfully recounting the alleged attack.

Prosecutor Helena Duong said Mills was ‘unprepared to answer any of the questions.

‘Even though it’s quite apparent in my submission that he plainly was upset about the situation with his kids.

‘He didn’t want to have to accept that he lost his temper that day.

‘He was the aggressor in the situation and the one who was responsible for assaulting Ms Jones that day and certainly not the other way around.’

In her closing speech, Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, QC, defending the rapper, said: ‘The prosecution seek to suggest that a witness [Ms Jones] has been consistent and therefore credible.

‘The court has been provided with at least three examples where the witness has given a changing and often escalating account.

‘The prosecution case has both changed and contracted and now appears to be principally put on the basis of Mills pressing his head [against Ms Jones].’ 

Ms Bennett-Jenkins added: ‘This defendant did not have to give evidence but he did so gladly.

‘But he did so in a way that gave a consistent and wholly credible account of what happened that day.

‘He is a man who is calm, courteous as a partner, attentive, patient and generous.

‘It is the defendant’s evidence and he accepts that he was shouting that day.

‘That, with respect, is not what he was charged with.’

She said there is ‘not a jot of evidence’ to support that Mills banged his head on the fridge.

‘He sustained an injury,’ she added.

‘We suggest that is wholly supportive of his account.’

She said Ms Jones’ evidence is not credible, adding: ‘The multiple inconsistencies and the accepted lies… call into question entirely the credibility and the motivation of Ms Jones in making the allegation that she has done.’  

Mills had a string of hit songs in the late 2000s and amassed a reported net worth of £2.5 million.

He was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2020.

Mills, of Sevenoaks in Kent, who was charged on August 2, denied assault by beating.