“I was playing Candy Crush” says murder accused

The Old Bailey Pic: Matt Brown

The Old Bailey. Pic: Matt Brown.

One of the Lewisham men accused of being part of a honey trap murder, told the Old Bailey that he was playing Candy Crush on his phone on the night of the killing.

Professional Poker player, Mehmat Hassan, 56, was murdered in his Islington home on March 24 last year. Hassan was bound and stamped to death, the court heard on Thursday.

Leonie Granger, a 25-year-old care assistant, allegedly let the attackers into the house. She had spent the evening at a casino with Hassan before going back to his apartment. The attackers allegedly ransacked Hassan’s flat.

The court heard Granger and her henchmen were filmed on her phone, throwing £50 notes around and stuffing cash in their underwear – all while Hassan lay in a pool of his own blood.

Lewisham residents Nicholas Chandler and Kyrron Jackson, both 28, are accused of murdering Hassan and false imprisonment, along with Jackson’s girlfriend Granger.

On Wednesday this week, Chandler told the court that on March 24 last year, Jackson picked him up from his house at 12:25am, despite telling a friend he had planned to stay in that night.

Jackson asked Chandler to go with him to pick up Granger and he used sat nav to find his way to an Islington address, he said.

Continuing with his defence, Chandler said he had no idea where they were going or who exactly Granger had been with.

The moment they arrived at their destination, Jackson got out of the car alone, said Chandler.

Chandler said he did not get out of the car. “I put the seat back on recline as far as it would go. I was playing Candy Crush on my phone and I was playing a game called Flappy Bird. I laid back for a bit. I was just there resting my eyes,” he said.

Granger, who had given evidence earlier, claimed that Chandler was waiting outside Hassan’s home when she left and ran away, but Chandler claimed she made this up.

After Jackson returned to the car without Granger, he told Chandler that she was in Lewisham and drove off again to find her there.

Jackson and Chandler are also accused of robbing Hassan, two counts of plotting to rob employees of Grosvenor Casinos, two counts of conspiracy to have a shotgun and imitation firearm in January 2014, and two counts of conspiracy to falsely imprison.

All three accused, Granger, from Gillingham, Jackson and Chandler both from Lewisham deny the charges against them. The trial continues.

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