Former Chef Found Dead After Weeks of Beatings and Forced to Sleep in Garage
A former chef was found dead after being beaten 'over many weeks' and made to sleep in a garage next to dogs, the Old Bailey heard. Dimitrious Tsavdaris, 55, was discovered lying in a foetal position on the bedroom floor of a flat in Hackney, east London, on January 29, 2024.
Spiral into Addiction and Exploitation
Jurors were told that Mr Tsavdaris, also known as Jimmy, had become addicted to crack cocaine after his brother died. He fell under the influence of Bamidele Fawehinmi, a 33-year-old drug dealer who exploited and beat him. The court heard that Mr Tsavdaris weighed just 53kg (8st) at the time of his death.
Prosecuting, Caroline Carberry KC said Fawehinmi was a 'drug dealer who preys on vulnerable older men, men who struggle themselves with drug addiction'. She added that he 'fed their drug addiction' while 'he beat them' and 'kept them in fear so they would do his bidding'.
Violent Beatings and Squalid Living Conditions
In the weeks leading up to his death, Mr Tsavdaris was attacked at the defendant's home in Wickford, Essex. Ms Carberry said he was Fawehinmi's 'lackey' there and 'slept on a mattress on the floor of a garage where the defendant kept his dogs'. He was subjected to 'multiple violent beatings over many weeks'.
The Hackney flat where his body was found, 30 miles from Fawehinmi's address, belonged to another vulnerable man called Anthony Anuforo. Ms Carberry said Fawehinmi used Mr Anuforo's address for drug dealing and gave him crack cocaine in return. Mr Anuforo was 'cuckooed' by Fawehinmi, meaning he 'was used, his address was used for criminal purposes, in this case to facilitate his trade in the supply of drugs'.
Significant Injuries and Attempted Escape
When found, Mr Tsavdaris had 'sustained significant injuries', including multiple fractures to his ribs, face, eye socket, jaw bone, and breastbone, as well as old and fresh bleeds between his skull and brain and internal injuries. Ms Carberry described him as a 'thin and frail man' who could have been 'dead or dying for several days'.
After Mr Tsavdaris died, Fawehinmi tried to flee to Lagos, Nigeria, but his father called police, who stopped him at Heathrow Airport. Ms Carberry said: 'The police were alerted to Dimitrios's death by this defendant's own father who, upon learning from his son that there was a dead body in a flat associated with his son, did the right thing and reported Jimmy's death to the police. Meanwhile his son, knowing that he had killed a man, tried to flee the country via Heathrow airport to Lagos in Nigeria.'
Life Before the Tragedy
Ms Carberry noted that Mr Tsavdaris's life 'wasn't always that way'. He had been a chef, a taxi driver, married, and a father of one, but his world unravelled after his brother's sudden death, leading to his crack cocaine addiction.
Fawehinmi denies manslaughter, causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Tsavdaris, and keeping him in servitude under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The trial continues.
