Slavery victim was forced to sleep beside dogs and beaten to death, court told

A vulnerable former chef died in a “cuckoo” house after being repeatedly beaten, kept in slavery and forced to sleep beside dogs, a court has heard.

The body of 55-year-old Dimitrios Tsavdaris was found in a foetal position in a flat in Hackney, north London, after he succumbed to weeks of violent attacks, the Old Bailey was told.

He had allegedly been taken there from the home of Bamidele Fawehinmi in Wickford, Essex, where he slept on a mattress in a garage beside American Pitbull cross-breed dogs.

Weighing just over eight stone, the victim was a frail “vulnerable person” who may have been dead or dying for several days before his body was found last January 29, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said.

He had suffered multiple fractures to his ribs, face and breastbone as well as old and new bleeding on the brain and internal injuries, jurors were told.

Fawehinmi, 31, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of Mr Tsavdaris’s murder and causing him grievous bodily harm.

The defendant is also charged with keeping him and another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in servitude.

Ms Carberry told jurors the defendant was a drug dealer who “preys on vulnerable men” who had struggled with drug addiction.

She said: “He beat them, he kept them in fear so they would do his bidding, he used them to help prepare, package and supply drugs and to drive him around.

“They lived in squalor at addresses associated with him. In return he fed their drug habit. The deceased, Dimitrios Tsavdaris was one such man. He was not the only one.”

The victim, known as Jimmy, had worked as a chef and taxi driver before his world “unravelled” following the sudden death of his brother some years ago, jurors were told.

The flat where he died had been “cuckooed” by the defendant, who took it over from another man and used it for drug dealing, it was alleged.

Ms Carberry told jurors: “There Dimitrios slept on a mattress on the floor of the garage where the defendant kept his dogs.”

He was already badly injured when he was transported by the defendant to Hackney a week before his body was found, she said.

Ms Carberry said: “The police were alerted to Dimitrios’ death by this defendant’s own father who, upon learning from his son that there was a dead body in a flat associated with him, did the right thing and reported it to the police.

“Meanwhile his son, knowing he had killed a man, tried to flee the country via Heathrow airport to Lagos in Nigeria.”

Jurors were told that the defendant’s exploitation and abuse of vulnerable men amounted to “modern slavery” and dated back several years.

The court was told that a second alleged modern slavery victim would give evidence in the trial about how he was physically and mentally abused.

The man was about 20 years older than Mr Tsavdaris and would drive the defendant around drug dealing for hours in his mobility vehicle, jurors heard.

Both victims were allegedly tasked to look after America Pitbull dogs which the defendant was breeding at the rented house in Orkney Gardens.

Ms Carberry said a neighbour had noticed about 14 puppies in the garden at one point.

The surviving victim described how the defendant had erupted with violence after he got dog mess on the bristles of a brush he was using to clean up, jurors heard.

Ms Carberry said the defendant used the man as a “punchbag” before he switched to Mr Tsavdaris.

In November 2023, a headteacher in Wickford called 999 after finding Mr Tsavdaris fearful and with cuts on his face outside school.

The defendant allegedly turned up and claimed Mr Tsavdaris was his sick uncle.

Before being taken to hospital for treatment, Mr Tsavdaris told police he was attacked every morning and evening by “George”, the court was told.

Ms Carberry told jurors: “In the absence of any protective measures being put in place, he somehow ended up back under the control of this defendant at Orkney Gardens. And it was there, over a number of weeks, where he was seriously assaulted, sustaining injuries which contributed to his death.”

Police found Mr Tsavdaris’s blood at the Wickford property and in the Kia car the defendant used to move him to Hackney, the court was told.

The man living at the Hackney flat had allegedly told the defendant Mr Tsavdaris needed medical help but was too fearful to act.

Jurors were told that a neighbour heard banging coming from the flat from late last January 26 until around 10am on January 28.

Ms Carberry said: “The neighbour thought it sounded as if someone was hitting a skirting board with an implement. Was this a desperate dying man left alone, trying to get attention?”

Following his arrest, the defendant claimed in one prepared statement that there was “an altercation”, and he had punched Mr Tsavdaris several times in “self defence”.

He said: “Jimmy was angry with me when I refused to give him money for crack cocaine.”

Fawehinmi has denied the charges against him and the Old Bailey trial continues.