A drunk human rights lawyer involved in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry launched a racist attack on her neighbor after drinking all day with her lawyer friends, a court has heard.
BBP London Law School Graduate Scarlett Milligan, 31, is accused of grabbing Civil Neighbor Kemi Adebiyi's neck and calling her a 'Black B****' when she asked why the lawyer was in the way of whining after midnight .
She had been drinking locally in Wandsworth, London, since 1pm with commercial and Chancery Counsel boyfriend Benjamin Waistell, 33, but they had had a row and she found herself out of his house in Cromford Road.
“This case concerns an allegation that Ms Milligan directed racial abuse at Ms Adebiyi during an argument and physically assaulted her by grabbing her neck,” prosecutor Nicholas Hearn told Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court.
“She denies that the abuse extended to racial abuse and denies that he physically assaulted Ms Adebiyi, saying it was the complainant who assaulted her.”
Milligan, who is based at Essex Chambers and attended Newcastle-Upon-Tyne's Royal Grammar School, pleaded not guilty to racially aggravated assault in the early hours of May 1, 2022.
After asking about Milligan, 48-year-old officer manager Ms Adebiyi was told to 'F*** Off' by Mr Waistell, a Lincoln's Inn solicitor with XXIV old buildings and the couple ended up in her front path.
Parts of the incident were recorded on Next-door's ring doorbell and Ms Adebiyi's mobile phone and played to the jury, who were shouting and cursing on both sides.
BBP London Law School Graduate Scarlett Milligan (pictured), 31, is accused of grabbing concerned neighbor Kemi Adebiyi's neck and calling her a 'Black B****'
Kemi Adebiyi (pictured) allegedly confronted Milligan after the lawyer lay crying in the street in the middle of the night
Milligan can be heard shouting at Ms Adebiyi, who has a 15-year-old daughter: 'Close your door you ugly C***' and: 'You're ugly Tw*t.'
No racial abuse was videotaped.
When QC David Etherington Mrs Adebiyi was examined by Milligan, was asked: 'There is nothing racial that we are hearing?'
Mr Hearn explained: 'Mrs Adebiyi heard a commotion outside in the street and heard a woman's voice wailing loudly and she went outside to see if the woman needed help.
Milligan is recorded replying: 'Sorry if I'm Suicidal is bothering you', and Ms Adebiyi replies: 'We all have mental health issues darling and we don't all do this.'
Ms Adebiyi dismisses Milligan's behavior as attention-seeking and Mr Waistell interrupts: 'Sorry someone is sad, it bothers you. F*** off. '
“What follows is a deeply unpleasant argument for several minutes on the path to the front door,” Mr Hearn said. 'Bad language is used by all three.
“The Crown says it is Milligan and Waistell, both of whom were much more abusive and aggressive and Milligan had to be physically restrained by Waistell as she lunged at Ms Adebiyi with her hand raised.
“Ms Adebiyi says Ms Milligan charged towards her and assaulted her by grabbing her neck and the altercation continued in her hallway.
Milligan's boyfriend Benjamin Waistell (pictured on Ring Doorbell camera), 33, came out of the house and also became involved in the argument
Milligan allegedly charged at Ms Adebiyi and grabbed her neck before being restrained by her boyfriend
Milligan was filmed being pushed away by her neighbor's lawyer boyfriend
“Ms Milligan says Ms Adebiyi assaulted her by grabbing her hair and dragging her into the doorway and closing the door and Mr Waistell picked her up and carried her into the street.”
This part of the dispute was not recorded by the complainant, who used her phone to call the police at the time.
She reportedly made the claim that she was called a 'black b****' seven months later.
When the police arrived, they found a drunk milligan crying in the street and complaining that Mrs Adebiyi had dragged her into the property and kicked her in the head.
Milligan, who has been described in legal publications as a 'Tier One Rising Star' and won the Inner Temple Princess Royal Scholarship to fund her Bar qualifications, was arrested and spent time in a police cell.
In her statement to police she said: 'I drank all day and by evening I was drunk. I had an argument with Ben and he left the pub.
'I couldn't access Ben's address because of the bottom lock and I got very upset and lay in the middle of the road crying.'
She said an “abusive black woman” confronted her and said, “If you're going to kill yourself, go through with it.”
'The lady continued to hurl abuse at me and she became more and more heated with her abuse.
'I ended up in her doorway and the next thing I remember I'm being pulled across the threshold of her address by the hair. The woman hit me and I was violently kicked in the head, I think I lost consciousness. '
Milligan complained that clumps of her distinctive red hair had fallen to the cell floor and she had swelling on both sides of her head. “I didn't deserve to be viciously attacked and then arrested,” she said. '
During the footage, which was played to the jury, Ms Adebiyi can be heard mockingly referring to the pair as 'Tarquin' and 'Karen', suggesting Ms Milligan was having a mental health episode.
The court heard that all three individuals used “bad language” during the 2022 incident
Milligan, who was heard telling her neighbor she was suicidal, can be heard telling Ms Adebiyi, who has a 15-year-old daughter: 'Close your door you ugly C***,' and: 'you f*** ing ugly tw*t '
She is heard shouting: 'Do you think you can come into my house and attack me? This is typical white privilege. She is looking for attention, she is a typical Karen, an attention seeker.
“I came out to help and Karen started ringing me and then Tarquin decides to come out here and enter my house and save Karen.
“I'm going to stream this. You're going to lose your jobs, you racists. '
In her rant she continued: “Tarquin pushed me over and I hit the back of my head on the wall.
“That girl tried for an Oscar, but she wouldn't have gotten past Brookside.”
Ms Adebiyi told the jury Milligan called her a 'Black B****' or 'Black Bint' and also made fun of her silk headscarf by calling it a turban.
“I think there were racial slurs everywhere. She made threats about kicking my head and the next thing I knew she was in my door, grabbed my neck, caused scratches and I grabbed her hair.
'The door is violently slammed by her partner and slams me into the wall. He's built like a rugby player.
“I'm sure he has a face of high value to his customers, but it's different from the angry, distorted face I saw.”
Etherington introduced Mrs Adebiyi: “You moved her into the flat. You lost it. She falls to the ground and you start kicking her in the head.
“That's when her partner walks in the door. She screams for him and she is scooped up by Mr Waistell and he carries her out. '
The process continues.
