British rapper Lady Leshurr has said her career has been “ruined” despite being found not guilty of attacking her ex-girlfriend’s partner.
The 35-year-old, whose real name is Melesha O’Garro, was accused of assaulting Chante Boyea, who was dating her ex-girlfriend Sidnee Hussein, in Walthamstow, London, on 22 October 2022.
The Queen’s Speech rapper allegedly bit Ms Boyea’s hand so badly that she suffered ‘nerve damage’.
A jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London on Wednesday (1 November) found her not guilty on two counts of actual bodily harm, the court said.
O’Garro’s co-defendant, Sherelle Smith, was also found not guilty on one count of the same charge.
Following the jury’s decision, O’Garro, who is from Kingshurst, Solihull, released a video on Instagram in which she told her followers that she had been going through “one of the worst experiences” of her life for the past year.
“For the past year, I have been going through one of the worst experiences of my life. I was doing things that I haven’t done – stalking, harassing, biting people. And today was the verdict and I was not guilty.”
Appearing in the video dressed in a purple suit with a black T-shirt, the “Black Panther” singer wrote in the caption: “For the past year I’ve been battling a court case from people that accused me of stalking, harassing, and biting them.”
“For a whole year people have deserted me, dropped me from deals, and didn’t want to work with me anymore. For a whole year I have had no income.”
A jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court found Lady Leshurr not guilty of attacking her ex-girlfriend’s partner— (PA Archive)
“Today has been judgement day. I’m shaking whilst I write this.”
“My brand/career has been ruined regardless no matter the outcome,” she said.
Meanwhile, fans of the musicians have been sharing messages of support on social media.
“Your career is not ruined. We are waiting for you,” wrote one fan on Instagram, as another added: “Your comeback will be amazing.”
O’Garro, who competed in ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2021 and previously hosted a weekly show on BBC 1Xtra Radio, had told her trial at Snaresbrook that Ms Boyea, a security officer, had attacked her first and used her Belgian Malinois dog Toby as a “weapon” during the incident in London.
The court had heard how the defendants flagged down Ms Boyea’s car at about 5am on 22 October 2022 as she was driving to work in Walthamstow.
Ms Boyea, who was training to become a dog handler at the time, told the court that after she stopped, Ms O’Garro “bit down on my hand and from that point she didn’t let go”. She said she suffered nerve damage in her left hand as a result of the attack and could no longer handle a dog securely.
"I will never be able to continue in that line of work again," she told the court.
However, Ronnie Bergenthal, for Ms O’Garro, told jurors that doctors’ notes did not state that she had suffered nerve damage in reference to an injury in her left hand.
The defence lawyer claimed Ms Boyea had also used her security dog in the boot of the car "as a weapon on Ms O’Garro", adding: "You were directing that dog to bite Ms O’Garro.”
Ms Boyea denied this, and said: “At no point did I throw punches or attack her or release the dog from the boot.”
Sherelle Smith, from Yardley, Birmingham, who had been accused of assaulting Sidnee Hussein after she tried to help Ms Boyea, was also found not guilty.
O’Garro rose to prominence in 2016 with her “Queen’s Speech” series of freestyles and participated in the Channel 4 series The Celebrity Circle for Stand Up To Cancer. In 2016, she won the MOBO award for Best Female Act and later supported American musician Nicki Minaj in her world tour dates in Manchester and Birmingham in 2019.
