'Not guilty' verdict in blackmail threat case

Published on 29th March 2007 in News

A London student has been cleared of blackmailing a drug addict in an incident which led to armed police officers surrounding a house in Goole.

Two teams of police officers ordered the occupants of a terraced house in Broadway to come out with their arms above their heads. Weapons, including three knifes and a machete, were recovered from the address on December 8 last year.

Gunpoint arrest for suspect

College administration student Michael Fadairo (18), of Penpoll Road, Hackney, was ordered to his knees at gunpoint and arrested on suspicion of blackmail.

But after a five-day trial at Hull Crown Court – which heard claims that Mr Fadairo threatened to cut off the victim's penis and put it in his mouth – he was cleared on Monday, March 26, by a jury who found him not guilty of a charge of blackmail.

He was accused of making menacing threats to recover a debt of around £200 owed to his brother after his brother was arrested in Goole for possession of drugs.

Mr Fadairo, who said he worked part-time in a solicitor's office, admitted going to the house to recover money, but denied making any threats.

He admitted in court he had suspicions of what the money was owed for, but denied knowing it was linked to drugs. He said: "My brother was asking me to do a favour for him and I was not going to let my brother down."

He denied in court drug dealing or arriving to take over his brother's business. He said he never got involved in drugs.

The victim told the jury a man he knew as 'Mark' not only threatened him with a knife. "He said he would take a revolver out of his bag and shoot my f***ing face off. He had a hunting knife in his hand."

No gun was ever recovered from the property and no fingerprints belonging to Mr Fadairo were found on the knives.The victim's partner said she feared for the safety of herself and her 12-year-old son.

She said Mr Fadairo threatened to cut off fingers and throw a crystal ball through the gold fish bowl and kill a pet. She said he claimed to have killed before and "one more would not make any difference".

But Mr Fadairo denied making any threats that day. He said he had simply sat and waited after asking for the money and knew nothing of a problem until police arrived with flashing lights outside.

His defence barrister Jeremy Lindsey told the jury that without a threat or menace there was no offence. He said: "If he did just sit there and ask for the money there is no offence.

"Whatever you may think of this case, you must not translate suspicion or guess work that a man who does not live in the area is guilty of a crime - just because someone who is a drug-taker says so."

Mr Fadairo, who was in custody throughout his trial, was allowed to walk free.