GCSE results slips. Photo: Amy Lacey

Schools in South and East London are celebrating a second wave of exam successes as GCSE results are published.

Following the drama of last week’s A Level grades, today younger students have learnt the results of their GCSEs – two years of work that, for many, will provide a foundation for further study.

Nationally, results have once again shown an improvement on last year, with 69.1% of papers graded C or above. 22.6% received one of the top two grades, A and A*.

Among the high achievers locally was 16-year-old Anish Jalabhay, head boy at The Oasis Academy Coulsdon, who achieved top grades in an impressive 18 subjects. The school’s principal, David Millar, described himself as ‘very proud’ of his students and their achievements.

At Croydon High School, 99.27% of papers were graded A*-C, with two top pupils, Frederiekje Fayd’Herbe De Maudave and Natalie Coulthwaite, achieving 11 A* grades each. Head of 6th Form Heidi Mester described them as ‘bright, charming, well-rounded girls’ who are ‘a joy to teach.’

Meanwhile, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace achieved its best ever GCSE results for the third year in a row, with 25 students achieving 10 or more A and A* grades.

Principal Steve Kenning described himself as ‘delighted’ with the results, adding: “These results are great news as they give all our students a real life opportunity. Their success allows them to move on to the next level confidently.”

At The Petchey Academy in Hackney, students from Year 10 were celebrating as they gained GCSEs a year early. 80% of the school’s first crop of Year 10 students achieved a GCSE grade from A* – C in at least one subject – results that will set them in good stead for their exams next year.

One high-achieving student, 15-year-old Meir Touitou, succeeded in gaining A* grades in Biology, Chemistry and Religious Studies, as well as As in Geography and History – and an A in AS Level Maths.

Boys at Bethnal Green Technology College inspect their results. Photo: Amy Lacey.

To sample the results day atmosphere, EastLondonLines went to two local schools, Bethnal Green Technology College and Mulberry School for Girls – and found a lot of ‘shocked’ students left outside.

Staff at Bethnal Green Technology College, Gosset Street, told pupils they had a ‘surprise’ for everyone – it being a good set of results when they got there.

Kudret Ismail, a 16 year old who lives on Kingsland Road, Hackney, said he ‘wasn’t expecting to do well’ because of pre-exam nerves. However he leaves the school with a mixture of Bs and Cs, with the intention of studying art and design at Southwark College.

For his post exam celebrations Kudret said he plans on fine dining with the family, after his Mum promised to take him for a meal if he got higher than a C in Turkish.

Elsewhere, at Mulberry School for Girls there were similar results with a chorus of happy students getting A*- C grades – and one girl did very well indeed, getting 9 As and A*s as her end result.

Planning on attending Mulberry Sixth Form in September, Rema Rohim said she was most surprised by her English result because she got a C but was expecting higher. Despite this she left with largely high Bs – missing out on As by only a few marks – and said overall she ‘did better than expected.’

But it wasn’t just the Year 11s getting their GCSE results at Mulberry: some bright pupils from year 10 also took exams in Citizenship and Science. Taznin Begum and Aniqa Basith both agreed: “It was a good experience doing it a year early as it prepares you for the real thing and there’s always another year to retake.”

Aniqa added: “Considering I did no revision I was quite happy with my C and D for now.”

Additional reporting by Amy Lacey.

Photo: Mykl Roventine @ flickr

A man who sued a series of London councils – including Hackney, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets – for compensation after injuring himself falling over on pavements is to appear in court on fraud charges.

Nathan Williams, 38, of Soho, is said to have attempted to obtain money by deception from eight different authorities between 2007 and 2008.

He claimed to have suffered a range of injuries as a result of council negligence during the eight month period, including broken bones, fractures and a bruised testicle.

But following an inquiry conducted by police and several authorities, Williams has been charged with eight counts of fraud.

City of Westminster Magistrates’s Court heard that  Williams’ first compensation claim followed a fall on a broken pavement in Boleyn Road, Hackney. Nine months after the incident itself, he complained of an injured hand and foot.

During spring and summer 2008, Williams then proceeded to claim accidents on seven other occasions in different locations around the city.

The rapid succession of claims included attempts to obtain money from Haringey, Westminster, Wandsworth and Southwark councils.

His final fall, supposedly caused by ‘raised ironwork’ in Woolwich Road, Greenwich, took place just one day after another claim in Tower Hamlets.

He has been remanded in custody and will appear in court again on 1 September.

The Old Bailey. Photo: Bill Tyne @ flickr

A former taxi driver from Stepney has appeared in court to admit the manslaughter of his 100-year-old mother earlier this year.

Michael Fitzgibbon, 62, admits stabbing elderly Hannah Fitzgibbon in the neck at their East London home in February.

Appearing at the Old Bailey, he plead manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

After committing the crime, the court heard, Mr Fitzgibbon told his brother and police: “I’ve just gone mad.”

Though he was originally charged with murder, prosecutors accepted the plea due to psychiatric evaluations that indicated Fitzgibbon was suffering from moderately severe depression and the early effects of Parkinson’s disease.

Prosecuting, Crispin Aylett QC remarked that although Fitzgibbon had not been formally diagnosed at the time of the incident, symptoms of his mental state had been ‘apparent’ to family and friends.

“This occurred at a time when it seems that in fact the defendant’s own health was deteriorating at a rather more rapid rate than that of his mother,” he said.

“Neither psychiatrists nor anyone else could think of any rational explanation for why the defendant would have killed his mother other than the one the defendant himself offered in the immediate aftermath.”

Pre-sentence reports have been ordered to determine whether Fitzgibbon will be jailed or given a supervision order due to his state of health. Sentencing will take place on 13 September.

The European Health Insurance card covers necessary medical treatment abroad

A Lewisham woman who sustained serious injuries after falling 30 feet from a balcony during a honeymoon in Greece will be able to fly home for treatment thanks to the donations of well-wishers.

Carrie-Anne Dudbridge, 27, fractured her spine in the accident, which happened on 14 August, during the holiday in Corfu with her new husband Michael, 29.

After returning from a romantic meal, Mrs Dudbridge, a primary school secretary, slipped and lost her footing on the balcony of their hotel room in Kavos.

With Mrs Dudbridge in hospital, paralysed by her injuries, the couple missed their flight back to the UK and were left stranded abroad with little money.

Language difficulties, no travel insurance cover, and the expensive special air ambulance that would be required to transport  Mrs Dudbridge home in her present condition meant that the situation seemed bleak.

The couple had believed that their European Health Insurance cards would cover any costs, but had failed to understand the terms of their coverage, which includes necessary medical treatment abroad but not repatriation.

But now, the pair will be able to return home after concerned strangers who saw their story in the British media donated more than £16,000 towards helping them.

Expressing the couple’s surprise and gratitude, Mr Dudbridge said: “We’re completely overwhelmed by the support. A huge thank you to everyone involved, and we can’t wait to thank everyone properly when we get home.”

Photo: comedy_nose @ flickr

Sixth-formers across South and East London have received their A and AS Level results – grades which will determine whether they can take up a place at their university of choice.

Competition has been particularly fierce this year, with the introduction of the new ‘A*’ grade, designed to reward candidates at the top end of the marking scale.

Nationally, pass rates have risen for the 28th successive year, and the number of students achieving As has also increased slightly. In its first year of use, 8.1% of papers overall were given the new A* grade.

At Croydon High School, candidates achieved an impressive 100% pass rate, with 84% of papers taken awarded the A*, A or B grades. Three of the school’s students, Natalie Kulenicz, Louise Bond and Priyanka Patel, achieved 3 A* grades each.

Headteacher Debbie Leonard congratulated her pupils, noting: “99% of our girls have automatically secured their places at their first choice university.”

At Riddlesdown Collegiate, also in Croydon, 6 students achieved the new top grade. Principal Gordon Smith praised the ‘excellent’ results and said staff and students had performed ‘magnificently.’

Lewisham’s Christ the King Sixth Form College reported a 98.2% pass rate for its A Level students, of which papers 35.4% received A*-B grades. The college’s BTEC National students also managed a 100% pass rate.

Principal Jane Overbury described herself as ‘very proud’ of the ‘hard work and dedication’ of her students.

Tower Hamlets College achieved a 94% pass rate, including eight students who achieved the A* grade.

In Hackney, Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form also had a 94% pass rate, while Our Lady’s Convent High School in Stamford Hill reached 99% – with 83% of papers graded C or above.

BSix Sixth Form College in Lower Clapton has also been celebrating after 19-year-old Allum Bokhari became its first student to get into Oxford University.

Meanwhile, Shoreditch-based Hackney Community College showed a distinct improvement in its A Level pass rate, achieving 97% – an eight percent increase on last year. To celebrate its students’ results, the college posted some short videos on its Youtube account.

Deputy Principal Lois Fowler said: “Our students have worked incredibly hard and have achieved impressive results. At Hackney Community College, we’re dedicated to sustaining the steady improvement that we’ve worked for in recent years.”

Photo: Loz Flowers @ flickr

An assistant caretaker at a school in Tower Hamlets has been found guilty of possessing indecent images of children and perverting the course of justice after planting  child pornography on a colleague’s laptop.

Neil Weiner, 39, framed his boss, Edward Thompson, 61, caretaker at Swanley School in Whitechapel, to get him sacked and win a promotion,  the court heard.

Child pornography was found on the personal computer of  Mr Thompson after the police received a CD and hand-written note, sent from Chelmsford, which purported to be a tip-off.

Mr Thompson told the Old Bailey he got ‘the fright of [his] life’ when he learnt that he had been accused of possessing the materials in 2006. He was immediately suspended from his job.

He  said he was stunned when a “posse of coppers” turned up on his doorstep four months later to arrest him after more than 400 child pornography images were found on his £1,200 laptop.  After the details of the accusations were published by the local press, he told the court that he had faced abuse in public. Mr Thompson said he and his wife, “were constantly abused in the streets by the locals because of my face being in the paper.”

Weiner, who joined the school in 2005, was said to be a ‘computer wizard’ who had previously worked in IT and believed himself to be as capable as the school’s head of department.

The court heard that Weiner had told friends Sandra Godfrey and friend Susan James of his plan to download child porn on to a CD and then place it on Thompson’s computer, before reporting him to the police.

Prosecutor Richard Milne said: ‘”Weiner planted child porn, indecent images, of almost the highest serious nature on his computer for no better reason than to get him sacked so that he, Weiner, could get promotion.”

The  jury at the Old Bailey found Weiner guilty of perverting the course of justice and two counts of possessing child pornography by a majority verdict of ten to two in each case. He will be sentenced in September.

Thompson, who is married with two sons, said that he had immediately suspected that someone among his colleague of the attempt to frame him, because of his poor relationship with them. He described ‘[taking] the Micky’ out of Weiner, who he described as ‘childish,’ adding: “I have a reputation of being exceedingly grumpy, bad tempered and irascible – that’s what I am.”

Leon Fyle has been found guilty of the November 2009 murder of Destiny Lauren. Photos: Metropolitan Police

A Catford man has been convicted of the ‘brutal and pre-meditated’ murder of a prostitute at her home in Kentish Town in north London last autumn.

Leon Fyle, 22, of Laleham Road, SE6, was found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of the murder of 29-year-old Destiny Lauren.

Lauren, a pre-operative transsexual woman, was found strangled in her flat in Leighton Crescent, NW5, in the early hours of 5 November 2009. She had also been robbed of a number of her possessions.

The court heard that Fyle, who had used prostitutes before, had telephoned Lauren the previous evening, before travelling across London to meet her for a sexual encounter.

Having availed himself of her services, Fyle then turned on Lauren and strangled her, before leaving with her mobile phone, some jewellery and £350 in cash.

He then travelled by bus to Kings Cross, where he spent £250 of the money on two further prostitutes.

Lauren was discovered in a collapsed state by her brother, who called police to the scene at around 00:55.

She was taken to hospital by emergency services, but pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Detective Inspector Liz Baker of the Metropolitan Police Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: “The murder of Destiny Lauren was brutal and pre-meditated.”

“Destiny lived alone in her flat in Kentish Town. She had a troubled history and had suffered depression following the death of her mother but was trying to turn her life around.”

“Destiny was well known to many people in the Camden area and was regarded as a ‘character’ by those who knew her. She was close to her father and two brothers, who she contacted regularly, and she had a love for the finer things in life and appreciated beautiful things.”

“Her life was abruptly ended when she met Leon Fyle, a young man she had never met before, who murdered and robbed her in her own home. She was found dead by her brother.”

“Fyle has not shown one shred of remorse for this callous act nor for the suffering he has inflicted on Destiny’s family and friends.”

“I hope today’s verdict can go some way to ease their pain.”

The trial heard that the victims brother, Lyndon Samuels, had warned her of the dangers of selling her body, but she ignored him, advertising herself as a ”fully functional” pre-op transsexual. On the night she died she asked him to wait in the street while she entertained Fyle.

Fyle who was traced through mobile phone calls to Ms Lauren, had made several other calls to pre-operative transsexual women. He refused to co-operate during police questioning and no motive for the murder was ever established.

Sentencing will take place on 17 September.

The Mango restaurant was fined over £16,000 by Tower Hamlets Council

A Brick Lane restaurant has been fined more than £16,000 after food inspectors discovered a kitchen infested with mice and cockroaches.

The case against Mangos, a curry house at 90 Brick Lane, following an inspection by Environmental Health Commercial Officers from Tower Hamlets Council last autumn.

No representatives of  the company behind the restaurant, Mango Brick Lane Ltd, attended the hearing at Thames Magistrates Court where they were found guilty in their absence.

During the October visit officers discovered mice droppings in food preparation areas, including on chopping boards, plates and a sink.

Cockroaches were also found in the kitchen, and inside a container where spices were stored.

The restaurant was immediately closed following the inspection, and cleaning and pest control works were carried out, said Tower Hamlets Counci.

The council said that the subsequent investigation and prosecution had established that  Mango Brick Lane had failed to keep the premises clean, control pests, or keep food safe from contamination.

Staff had not been adequately trained, and the company had failed to adequately manage food safety risks.

The Court issued the maximum fine possible on three of the seven offences presented

Councillor Shahed Ali, Tower Hamlets Council Lead Member for the Environment, said: “We’ve got some fantastic restaurants in Tower Hamlets and we’re making sure that they’re clean and safe to eat in.”

“We want residents and visitors to feel confident and enjoy the experience of eating out in the borough, and that’s why we’re cracking down on unhygienic premises.”

Staff at the restaurant, which was open for business in Brick Lane this week,  denied that it had ever closed. A spokesman for the management company, Mango Brick Lane, could not be contacted for comment.

Photo: Tony Webster

A Tower Hamlets family with three children – one disabled – escaped unhurt after a firebomb attack on their home in the middle of the night. A neighbouring house was also shot at, in what detectives think was a related incident.

Police are appealing for information about the incidents in the early hours of Thursday morning, which they believe was connected to an altercation which took place several hours previously between a resident of the firebombed house and a passing motorist .

The emergency services were called to the terraced property in Antill Terrace, E1, at around 02:50 on Thursday morning where they discovered that a crude petrol bomb – constructed from a milk bottle filled with flammable liquid – had been thrown through the living room window.

The resulting blaze was extinguished by London Fire Brigade, and none of the house’s occupants – a couple, a relative and three young children, one of whom has cerebral palsy – were injured.

Officers also discovered a hole in the living room window of the house next door, suspected to be related to an earlier report of a shot being fired in the area at around 02:30. A bullet was later located inside.

According to detectives, the events may be connected to an earlier incident, in which a 40-year-old man leaving the house – where a party had been taking place -  on a bicycle was struck by a black VW Golf, which knocked him to the ground and grazed his leg.

The motorist stopped and the two were involved in an angry exchange of words which led to an altercation, during which the  motorist suffered a cut to his head.

Police calmed the situation down and no arrests were made. The motorist left the scene, though some witnesses later told police he was alleged to have threatened to shoot the cyclist.

Detective Inspector Stewart Garrick of Tower Hamlets CID, who is leading the inquiry with colleagues from Operation Trident, said: “These cowardly attacks have needlessly threatened the lives of the occupants of two addresses.

“Clearly a strong line of inquiry is that the shooting and arson could be linked to the earlier altercation involving a car driver, especially as we now know he had allegedly threatened to shoot the cyclist.”

“I appeal to anyone who witnessed the exchange between the cyclist and the driver, or the incidents in the early hours of Thursday morning, to come forward.”

“It is essential that anyone with information does make it known, as this could so easily have resulted in a murder inquiry.”

The driver of the VW Golf is described as black, and thought to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

If you have any information, you can call Limehouse Police Station on 020 7275 4772 – or, for anonymity, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Dalton and Chen. Photos: Metropolitan Police

A couple who made more than a million pounds running a cluster of brothels exploiting vulnerable South East Asian women were yesterday sentenced total of five and a half years in prison by a judge at Croydon Crown Court.

Michael Dalton, 44, and Nikki Chen, 56, received the jail terms after being convicted of a string of offences, including conspiracy to traffick within the UK for sexual exploitation.

The court heard how, over a six year period, the two ran four brothels in south and west London, in which young women brought into the UK illegally were ‘controlled’ and ‘obliged’ to prostitute themselves for between £60 and £120 an hour in order to pay off their debts.

Dalton and Chen then used most of the money raised through their criminal activities to fund their own ‘lavish’ lifestyles, which included owning properties in Gloucestershire and Surrey, as well as luxury Mercedes and Lamborghini sports cars.

Yesterday, His Honour Judge Flahive jailed Dalton for three years for prostitution for gain, 21 months for conspiracy to traffick in the UK, and 18 months for money laundering.

Chen received sentences of two and a half years, 18 months, and two years for the same respective offences. All sentences will run concurrently.

The pair were caught after an extended police investigation, codenamed Operation Icefall, during which officers conducted surveillance on the brothels, observing ‘at least a dozen’ customers visiting each day.

The properties were subsequently raided and closed down by authorities.

One of the brothels operated by the pair. Photo: Metropolitan Police

Two accomplices of Dalton and Chen have also been convicted for their part in the scheme. Manjit Singh, 33, and Ian Garrett, 43 were previously found guilty of conspiracy to traffick within the UK for sexual exploitation.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, head of the Metropolitan Police Human Exploitation and Organised Crime Command, said: “Chen, Dalton and their co-conspirators had a blatant disregard for the women they had brought into, and moved around the UK, with the promise of a better life.”

“The young women they controlled were exploited and obliged to have sex with in excess of 12 strangers a day, in order to pay off the debts they had accrued in being trafficked to the UK on false passports and visas. Some did not know that they would have to work as prostitutes in the UK.”

“Nikki Chen and Michael Dalton took the vast majority of the cash they made through their illegal activities to fund their lavish lifestyles, living in expensive houses and driving luxury sports cars.”

“Fortunately, their criminality came to our attention and they have now been convicted for the fear and exploitation they caused.”

Case officer Detective Constable Christopher Ansell added: “Nikki Chen and Michael Dalton were partners who exploited young and vulnerable women from abroad, making them work as prostitutes at brothels in the suburbs of London and Surrey.”

“The investigation revealed that some of the women were in debt bondage ranging from £25,000 upwards. This allowed the pair to line their own pockets and sustain a lavish lifestyle over a period of six years.”

“Anybody being violated by criminals like Chen and Dalton should not be afraid to come forward and tell police how they are being forced to live. Their safety and that of their loved ones will be at the forefront of our investigation.”