rhyme star Dizzee Rascal has lost his appeal against his conviction for assaulting his ex-fiancee.
The grime artist, 38, whose real name is Dylan Mills, was found guilty in a trial last April of assaulting Cassandra Jones by pressing his forehead against hers and pushing her to the ground during a “chaotic” strife in her south London home in June 2021.
The musician, who is known for charting Bonkers and Dance Wiv Me, sat quietly in the harbor of Crown Court in central London because his appeal against conviction and sentence was rejected.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who sat with a panel, said they were “satisfied” that the case had been framed “in the manner alleged by the Crown” and that Mills had “used his forehead to push Ms. Jones around” the Chamber .
During his trial, Mills, who had two children with Ms Jones before they split in February 2021, allegedly stormed into the house, banged his head three times against a fridge while holding his son, and began to “yell to his ex-partner and her mother Dawn Kirk.
The judge said Ms Kirk had been a “convincing” witness whose testimony at the appeal was “balanced” about the angry scenes she witnessed that night.
Ms Jones had previously told the appeal hearing that she “stumbled on the floor” after Mills “pushed his forehead against my forehead and pushed me across the room”.
“He reached his red fog where he just doesn’t care,” she said.
Mills testified Friday, denying the claims and saying he was not angry when he arrived at the house.
He told the court that Mrs Jones was “hostile” to him when he arrived at her home.
Mills said he had a “good day” with his family in the hours before.
He said he was not in a “bad mood” when he arrived at the house, but that it was “annoying” that Mrs Jones had been constantly contacting him about why he was late getting there.
The court heard he told her in one of their conversations that she sent him “little triggering text messages” and that “you don’t deserve that much of my time or energy, I’m just there for the kids”.
Mills said voices rose in the house when a fight over money broke out between the musician, his ex-fiancée and Ms Kirk.
He said he went into the kitchen and asked Mrs. Kirk “why she let Cassie use my children as a weapon against me”.
Mills said of Mrs. Jones that “she was yelling at me” before adding “we were all yelling, it was very loud”.
He claimed she hit him with a mobile phone and said: “She was hitting at me. She hit me a few times and she scratched me. She hit me with the phone.”
He added: “I took it from her. She hit me and hit me again.”
In a prepared statement given to police after Mills was arrested, he said he suffered scratches on his left arm from the attack and that this was documented by a nurse, the court heard.
Mills described himself as “calm and relaxed” when police arrived, but the court overheard him telling them, “I am the aggressor”.
Asked by his attorney Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC why he made that comment, Mills replied, “I was just making light and making small talk.”
She asked him, “While you were on the property, did you ever do anything to physically attack Cassie?”
Mills replied, “I didn’t.”
At some point during the argument that evening, Mills took Mrs. Jones’ and her mother’s cell phones from them.
Prosecutor Helena Duong suggested to Mills that the “real reason” behind this was that he wanted to thwart any attempt by them to call the police for help.
Mills replied, “No, I took it because she already hit me.”
The court had previously heard Ms Jones claim he had reduced her “allowance” from £2,000 to £1,800 when she “behaved badly”.
Ms Jones denied that the background to the argument on the day of the alleged attack was over money.
On Friday, Mills said he always took care of Ms Jones and his children financially, and did not use his wealth to control her.
He told the court: “I don’t think that’s fair. I do not understand. I paid all the bills and if she had anything for the kids she billed me.
Mills added, “I don’t see why I should have to control her.”
In April 2022, Mills was given a community order, which included a 24-week curfew and a 12-month restraining order prohibiting him from contacting his former partner, and was ordered to pay £2,190 in costs and a £95 surcharge .
These sentences have not changed and the restraining order expires in April.
Mills was also ordered to pay £620 appeal costs.
Mills, who released his debut album Boy In Da Corner in 2003, became one MBE for services to music in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours.