Plaistow assault man “too scared to leave cell”

A Plaistow man who admitted punching a 16-year-old girl unconscious on the street is reported to be too scared to leave his cell alone.

Michael Ayoade, 34, of Grange Road, was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm on November 24 at Thames Magistrates Court.

According to The Sun, Ayoade eats meals in his cell and insists on being escorted by guards while walking around HMP Thamesmead because he fears the wide-spread viewing of the police CCTV footage will incite reprisals from the public.

A source told the paper: “He’s absolutely petrified. It is absolutely disgusting what he did to that poor girl. I thought the young lady in question would be quietly pleased to hear this information.”

Ayoade later told police after the attack the young woman “didn’t have a friendly face”, that he was “intimidated by her” because she “made me feel like a pauper with her facial gestures” and he couldn’t take “an insult from a little person like that”.

Ayoade is due to appear at Inner London Crown Court on a date to be fixed.