Video allegedly shows rapper Lady Leshurr moments before biting woman

The 35-year-old artist denies two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Lady Leshurr denies attacking her ex-girlfriend and her then-partner last October (Ian West/PA) (PA Archive)

A video allegedly showing rapper Lady Leshurr attacking her ex-girlfriend’s lover moments before biting her has been shown to court.

The 35-year-old artist, whose real name is Melesha O’Garro, is accused of assaulting Chante Boyea — then dating her ex-girlfriend Sidnee Hussein — just after 5am on October 22 2022, biting her hand so badly that she suffered “nerve damage”.

The former Dancing On Ice contestant, from Kingshurst, Birmingham, and her co-defendant Sherelle Smith allegedly attacked Ms Hussein after she tried to help Ms Boyea, Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London heard previously.

The rapper denies two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and Smith, 29, from Yardley, Birmingham, denies one count of the same charge during the incident outside Ms Hussein’s home in Walthamstow, north-east London.

At their trial on Wednesday, a Snapchat video recorded by Ms Boyea showed her holding back O’Garro with her left hand as the rapper appeared to lunge at her.

In the short clip, O’Garro was seen with her mouth open as Ms Boyea screamed “help” repeatedly.

Ms Boyea previously told the court that O’Garro then bit down on her hand  and “didn’t let go”.

She said that O’Garro only relented when Ms Hussein rushed from her house to her aid and was then attacked by Smith.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Ms Boyea said: “She (O’Garro) was punching towards me but couldn’t reach my body as you can see in the video.

“The only reason I recorded it was as evidence that I was being attacked.”

The defendants’ case is that they were the ones who were first attacked and that security officer Ms Boyea used her Belgian Malinois dog Toby as a “weapon” against O’Garro. 

In the video shown on Wednesday, a dog can be heard barking and defence lawyer Ronnie Bergenthal suggested to jurors that its front paws could briefly be seen reaching up to O’Garro.

Ms Boyea denied the suggestion, having previously insisted that Toby remained in the boot of her car during the incident.

She also denied that she had edited the video before providing it to police as it did not show her “in the best light”.

The trial continues.