Justice for Hornsey cab driver, Lascelle Malcolm, killed by liquid cocaine disguised as rum
5:28pm Wednesday 11th August 2010
Justice has finally come for a kind-hearted Hornsey cab driver killed after drinking pure liquid cocaine.
The family of Lascelle Malcolm, 63, of Rutland Gardens, branded the drug smuggler found guilty of his manslaughter as "deceitful and selfish".
Martin Newman, 49, of Wadeville Avenue, Romford, was handed a 20-year jail term by a judge at Croydon Crown Court earlier today.
Mr Malcom's wife Gretal welcomed the sentence and said it helped put an end to the "living nightmare" her family were trapped in as they awaited the trial.
The grieving widow said: "My husband paid the ultimate price for Martin Newman's deceitful, selfish and dangerous operation.
"Justice was served today when he was convicted of drug importation and the manslaughter of my husband. The last 14 months have been a living nightmare for our family, and we were left with so many unanswered questions. Now we can begin to build our lives again and remember Lascelle as the loving, kind-hearted man he was. He will surely be missed by all of his family."
She heaped praised on prosecutor Oliver Glasgow for his hard work, as well as the police, witnesses and jurors.
The court heard how Mr. Malcolm, of Harringay, had unwittingly consumed the liquid cocaine, which was disguised in a bottle of Bounty Rum, after being handed the drink as a gift on May 25, 2009.
Earlier that day the father-of-two had offered to collect close friend, Antoinette Corlis, in his taxi as she returned to Gatwick Airport after a holiday in St Lucia.
He drove Ms Corlis back to her Haringey home and refused to accept cash for the favour, but, fatefully, accepted the bottle of rum which she had been brought back from the Caribbean.
Ms Collis was asked to carry the drink by a friend who had been asked to carry the bottle on Newman's behalf not knowing what it contained.
Newman, who was on the same flight, knew the bottles each contained 8.7oz of pure cocaine dissolved into the alcohol and that just one teaspoon of the liquid would be fatal.
He had intended to collect the bottles, worth £20,000, from Mr Lawrence when they arrived at Gatwick, but customs officers intercepted Newman before he could retrieve them.
As Mr. Lawrence was unable to find Newman he kept one of the bottles and handed the other to Ms Corlis who tragically gave it to Mr Malcolm.
After just a few sips, the cab driver fell ill and was rushed to the Whittington Hospital on May 26.
He was later discharged, but collapsed at home after suffering a heart attack triggered by the pure cocaine.
It was only when his friends Charles Roach, 41, and Trevor Tugman, 38, arrived at his house to pay their respects that the true cause of his death was discovered.
The friends raised a toast in their friend's honour using the same bottle of rum, and both suffered seizures.
DC Paul Coyle, of Haringey CID, said: "This was an unusual and tragic case which saw a good deed ended in a father's death.
"Mr. Malcolm had only wanted to assist a friend who in turn had only wanted to thank him. Had Newman not arranged for the potent and deadly drug to be imported the tragic sequence of events would never have occurred.
"Mr. Malcolm's family and friends have been left devastated by his death and his two close friends who visited his home were lucky to survive."
Source; http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/ne ... ed_as_rum/
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