Grime artist Dizzee Rascal, real name Dylan Kwabena Mills, arrives at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court in London
(Picture: PA)Rapper Dizzee Rascal has been found guilty of assaulting his former fiancée in a heated row over childcare.
The star, 37, pressed his head into the forehead of Cassandra Jones and eventually barged her to the floor after he turned up angry at her mother’s home.
District Judge Polly Gledhill dismissed the rapper’s claims of innocence, calling his evidence in court “evasive and belligerent”.
She said the rapper - real name Dylan Mills - had sent texts before the assault - telling Ms Jones to “shut up” - had been “aggressive, dismissive, possibly even bullying”.In contrast, the judge said Ms Jones gave a truthful account of the assault.
“She was adamant she was pushed around the room by Mr Mills, and his actions led her to be on the floor.”
“On returning home with his child late, he lost his temper,” the judge said, finding Mills “barged” into the property and began shouting at Ms Jones’s mother.
“When Ms Jones took action to try and prevent this, he took her phone to prevent police being called and assaulted her by pushing her around the lounge by his forehead and by barging past when she tried to retrieve her phone, putting her to the ground.”
Mills stormed out of court after the judge adjourned sentencing to April 8.
He appeared initially reluctant to stand up after hearing the guilty verdict.
Earlier, the rapper gave evidence at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on Monday.
Mills denied having any physical contact with Ms Jones and accused her of being the “aggressor”, leaving a mark on his left arm as she berated him.
“I deny the allegation in its entirety, I deny assaulting Cassandra,” the rapper told police after his arrest. “I did not push Cassandra to the floor, I didn’t push my forehead into Cassandra’s forehead, and in fact Cassandra assaulted me by pushing me and scratching my left arm.”
Describing the confrontation at Ms Jones’s mother’s home in Streatham, southwest London, Mills said he took hold of her mobile phone to avoid being struck with it.
“She was waving it in my face,” he said. “I didn’t want her to use it as a weapon.”
Mills said Ms Jones did not fall to the floor at all during the incident, and insisted she was “erratic and up in my face”.
Asked if he had “done anything wrong to cause the police to be called”, Mills replied: “I didn’t think so, no.”
The court heard Mills had taken his daughter out for the day, he was asked by Ms Jones to go to the shop to buy clothes for their child, and got stuck in gridlocked traffic as they made their way back.
The former couple exchanged messages on the journey home as Ms Jones contemplated putting dinner on for her daughter, and Mills denied being annoyed when he texted “shut up” and told her: “Don’t give me no lip”.
“I want my daughter to eat too,” he told the court. “But to keep calling and texting me, I didn’t see the point.”
When the trial began last month, the court heard how Mills and Ms Jones had been in an on-off relationship for nine years and share two children.
Prosecutor Helena Duong said Mills was “confrontational” when picking up his daughter earlier in the day, and he is accused of barging into the home during the drop-off later, allegedly “screaming and shouting” in the kitchen in front of Ms Jones’ mother Dawn Kirk.
The rapper allegedly banged his head three times against the fridge while holding his son, and is said to have grabbed the phone from Ms Jones when she tried to call 999.
Calling her former partner “out of control”, Ms Jones said she wanted Mills to hand over their son: “He put his forehead on my forehead and he pushed me around the room,” she said. It is said Mills "pushed her to the ground", leaving Ms Jones with bruising on her arm.
Mills said he and his former partner raised their voices during the incident but he said it was Ms Jones who was “shouting, rude, in my face”.
He told the court he had gone to speak to Mrs Kirk about childcare arrangements, having recently learned that she was voluntarily helping Ms Jones’ siblings while he had been paying her £1200 a month to help out.
Mills denied the allegation that he had repeatedly banged his head into the fridge.
Former World Heavyweight Boxing champion David Haye gave evidence for Mills via a statement, calling him a “standup and down-to-earth kind of man”.
“I have never seen Dylan lose his temper or display any signs of anger” he said.
Mills, of Sevenoaks in Kent, was charged on 2 August last year and denies assault by beating.
