Diana Meghrabi lost her application for an appeal hearing
St John’s Wood estate agent convicted of mortgage fraud is denied chance to clear her name
Monday, March 11, 2013
1:58 PM
An estate agent who ended up with a criminal record after lying about her earnings to secure a mortgage has failed to persuade top judges to consider quashing her conviction.
Diana Meghrabi, who worked as a lettings agent, told a mortgage broker she earned a £40,000 annual bonus on top of her wages in order to secure a £488,720 mortgage on a £575,000 property in Blair Court, St John’s Wood, in 2007.
Meghrabi, 31, of Middlefield Street, St John’s Wood, was convicted of fraud in relation to statements about her earnings and was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work last August at Kingston Crown Court.
On Monday Lord Justice Laws, Mr Justice Keith and Judge Charles Wide QC, sitting at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, rejected her application to appeal.
Judge Wide said Meghrabi’s defence in her trial had been that she “never told the mortgage broker she was earning the bonus of £40,000 and said it was put in at the suggestion of the mortgage broker”.
It was her case that “she had told him it sounded excessive, but he said it didn’t matter, as it was not guaranteed income,” the judge continued.
Meghrabi, representing herself, argued that the way the judge “questioned” her at her trial had prejudiced the jury against her and rendered her trial unfair.
Rejecting her application to appeal, Judge Wide said: “The grounds of appeal are that the judge’s questioning of the appellant would have been perceived by the jury as an indication that he didn’t believe or accept her case.
“It would have been better if the judge had not asked the questions about which she complains but the questioning was of short duration and it is not properly arguable that the judge’s actions rendered the trial unfair.”
Local advertisers
Other Crime & Court Articles
- Golders Green man accused of carrying axe to appear in court on threat charge
- Carole Waugh death: Accused deny murder of former oil executive
- Carole Waugh death: Men accused of murder to appear in court
- Brave men chase would be handbag thief in Hampstead after hearing pensioner’s screams for help
- Teenage mob clashes with police in Hampstead after officers shut down out-of-control house party
- Suspected burglars who sparked Hampstead police helicopter chase remanded in custody
- Thieves ‘defiled and ransacked’ body of World’s End pub landlord who lay dying in street
- Man accused of raping transsexual woman to face new trial after jury fail to reach verdict
- Father accused of killing 12-year-old son from Camden by shaking him when a baby
- Selfridges ‘smash and grab’ getaway bikes found in Paddington
- Guitar stolen 13 years ago in Golders Green burglary reunited with owner via eBay
- Fake bomb detectors located Madeleine McCann, Hampstead Garden Suburb man tells Old Bailey
- Hampstead Garden Suburb man who sold useless bomb detectors believed secret Russian laboratory proved they worked
- DNA links man to rape of transsexual woman in Camden alley 12 years ago, court hears
- Arrest warrant issued for man accused of stealing from World’s End pub landlord as he lay dying in street
- Hampstead Garden Suburb man sold fake bomb detectors to world governments and military, court hears
- Man due in court following West Hampstead squatters’ party
- Fugitive banker Mukhtar Ablyazov’s homes in The Bishops Avenue and St John’s Woods to be sold
- Government official from Kentish Town in court over alleged bribes from The Sun journalist
- Gospel Oak man admits sexual assault after groping woman on Tube train
-
Use our Wedding site to help you plan your big day! - At WeddingSite we know how much you have to organise for your wedding day, that's why we have designed a set of FREE, simple-to-use tools to make the planning process easy & hassle-free. FIND OUT MORE
-
Find a date using our online dating and friend finder - You can meet new friends, find romance or simply meet up online with people sharing similar interests and hobbies. FIND OUT MORE
-
Find a local business using our online directory search - Need a plumber? Or a florist? Or anything else? Search our business directory to find Hampstead businesses in just a few seconds. FIND OUT MORE
-
Family notices from the Ham&High, with readers' tributes - In memoriam, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, best wishes & special days. FIND OUT MORE
Celebrity / Showbiz See all
Brick Lane Comedy Festival cancelled after opposition from community groups
A comedy festival in east London due to feature acts including Al Murray, Alan Davies and Ed Byrne has been cancelled because of “heavy opposition from local community groups”.