• Super Admin
• 08 Mar, 2026

Fawehinmi tried to flee the country, having told his dad that he'd seen a dead body at a friend's house(Image: Met Police) 'A violent bully who preyed on vulnerable people' forced a man to sleep in his garage with dogs and deliver drugs for him. Bamidele Fawehinmi, 33, took advantage of 55-year-old Dimitrios Tsavdaris - forcing him to work long hours helping to run a drug line. Investigators worked to build a case of evidence against Fawehinmi and proved he subjected Dimitrios, also known as Jimmy, to a prolonged period of abuse. This was sustained and occurred over a period of weeks, and culminated in Dimitrios' death on 29 January 2024. He was living in squalid conditions at Fawehinmi's home in Wickford, Essex, where he was forced to sleep in a garage with a number of dogs. On 26 January 2024, Fawehinmi took Dimitrios in a hire car from the address in Orkney Gardens, Wickford, to a flat in Lansdowne Drive, Hackney. Dimitrios had been badly beaten and was effectively "clinging to life", the Met Police said. Fawehinmi left him locked inside the flat. When he returned three days later, on 29 January 2024, Dimitrios had died. He tried to flee the country, having told his dad that he'd seen a dead body at a friend's house, leaving Dimitrios in the Hackney flat with a fractured skull. When his dad told him to dial 999, he refused and booked a flight to Nigeria. Fawehinmi's dad reported the dead body to the police. Cops attended the flat and found Dimitrios dead. Fawehinmi was arrested in his hire car on January 30 after the vehicle triggered a number plate camera on the M11. The car had two suitcases filled with clothing. Fawehinmi said he was travelling to Nigeria to see his grandmother. A forensic examination of the hire car found Dimitrios's blood in the vehicle. Detective Superintendent Kelly Allen, who led the Met's investigation, said: "I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Dimitrios must have gone through in the final weeks of his life, enslaved by Bamidele Fawehinmi and living in fear for his life."Dimitrios was a frail man who did not pose a threat to Fawehinmi. His initial claim in police interview that he acted in self-defence is utterly preposterous, and the words of a coward."Fawehinmi is a violent bully, who preyed on vulnerable people to exploit them for his own gain. His conviction will not erase the pain felt by Dimitrios's family but I hope the fact he will spend a significant period of time behind bars brings them some small sense of justice. "I would like to thank the members of the public who came forward to give evidence. Their testimony has helped convict this dangerous man." Source: https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/violent-bully-forced-frail-man-33547416