Healthcare worker charged with Mehmet Hassan murder after gambling win
Leonie Granger
A WOMAN and two men in their twenties have been charged with the murder of Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Hassan in Islington last week.
Leonie Granger, 24, appeared with Kyrran Jackson, 27, and 28-year-old Nicholas Chandler at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
They were due to appear at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
Ms Granger is a professional healthcare assistant and works at a care home in Dagenham, Essex, which specialises in looking after elderly people with dementia.
She is suspected of helping carry out a “honey-trap killing,” luring him back to his flat where he was robbed and beaten to death.
Mr Hassan is understood to have won £3,000 the last night he was seen at Mayfair’s Palm Beach Casino.
Mehmet Hassan
HE HAS ALWAYS GAMBLED
His’s best friend Andrew ‘Giddy’ Perendes, 65, told the Daily Mail: “Mem was born with a pack of cards in his hands. He was a gambler since he was 11 years old.
“We’ve known each other since we were eight. We have never worked, we have always gambled.
“Mem was one of the best all-round card players I have ever known. He was a very generous man and a big winner.’
Mr Perendes, who wrote his life story in his memoirs Life Is A Gamble, added: “Mem was very well liked. He had no enemies. I’m really devastated.
‘He could have been anything he wanted to be but he chose to live on his wits. No one deserves to go that way, to get battered to death in your own flat.”
ASSAULTED AT HOME
Police were called to Baxter Road, Dalston, on Monday evening after concerned relatives said they were unable to contact Mr Hassan, 56.
Officers forced their way into the property and found his body inside. He was a father of three and living on his own.
Detectives believe the victim had been assaulted at his home.
The casino where Mr Hassan reportedly won his jackpot
FIVE ARRESTS
A post-mortem examination on Mr Hassan’s body at Whittington mortuary on Wednesday gave the cause of death as neck and chest injuries.
The men were caught at addresses across east and south London, while Mrs Granger was found at an address in Gillingham, Kent.
APPEAL FOR INFORMATION
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “I would like to appeal to anyone who has seen any activity in and around this address to make contact with my officers.
“In particular I would like help from the public who can assist with the movements of the victim between 19.30hrs on Sunday 23 March and shortly before police found the victim on Monday.”
The incident room can be contacted on 020 8358 0300.