Dizzee Rascal: Rapper smashes photographer’s camera after he is found guilty of assaulting his former fi

Dizzee Rascal smashed a press photographer’s camera after he was found guilty of assaulting the mother of his children during an argument.

The grime rapper, 37, knocked the camera from the hands of PA photographer James Manning before launching it across the road, where it smashed into pieces outside Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court in south-west London.

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

“I think he said something like ‘get away’ or ‘get out of my face’ or something along those lines.

“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.”

The incident happened shortly after the chart-topping musician, whose real name is Dylan Kwabena Mills, was convicted of attacking Cassandra Jones.

The court heard how Mills “pressed his forehead against” his former fiancée’s and “pushed her to the ground” during a “chaotic” argument last summer.

The court was told he assaulted her after becoming “frustrated” over custody arrangements when he returned their daughter to a property in Streatham, south London.

He had been late arriving at the property after getting stuck in traffic, and told the court Ms Jones was bombarding him with calls and texts, asking whether they would be back by 5pm in time for dinner.

Mills, who was with Ms Jones for nine years before they split up in February 2021, was said to have “barged” into the home and made his way into the kitchen where he banged his head on a fridge three times while holding his son.

He then began “screaming and shouting” at Ms Jones and her mother, Dawn Kirk, the court heard.

During the trial, before a district judge, the court was told that Ms Jones started recording him until he snatched her phone.

After a “scuffle” for the handset, Mr Mills “pushed Ms Jones to the ground and she landed on her elbows”, the court heard.

A neighbour who overheard the dispute came to diffuse the situation and found “Mr Mills getting to 100 per cent anger”.

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

Delivering her verdict, District Judge Polly Gledhill said Mills had lost his temper in an argument over child contact and finances. She added that he was “abusive and aggressive” and “assaulted her as outlined by the Crown”.

Mills 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.

Mills, of Sevenoaks, will be sentenced on 8 April.