Woman Jailed for Plot to Expose Witness in Boyfriend's Murder Trial
Lauro seduced colleague in order to access files at Hammersmith Police Station
Lydia Lauro
Lydia Lauro, 33, who has been dubbed "a gangster's moll" by some newspapers was sentenced to five years in jail for Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct in a Public Office.
Her co-defendant, Hayden Cheremeh, a former Police Community Support Officer, or PCSO was also sentenced to five years in jail for the same offence.
Hayden Cheremeh
The Old Bailey heard that she seduced Cheremeh, 36 to enlist his help and used his log-in to access the police intelligence system. He was described as "totally obsessed" with Lauro and his defence lawyer, Jeminipe Akin-Olugbade, said he was a "naive, infatuated and possibly over-idealistic person who got caught up in actions far greater than himself".
Lauro was the girlfriend of Leon De St Aubin, who is serving a life sentence after being convicted with an accomplice of the execution style shooting of Mr Austin-Bruce outside Wandsworth Prison in May 2009.
Leon De St Aubin
Following the court verdict on 8 November 2011, De St Aubin and his accomplice Rupert Ross sought leave to appeal their conviction and sentence. The Old Bailey heard that, while still visiting De St Aubin in prison, Lauro got a job as a Designated Detention Officer, or DDO, in the custody suite at Hammersmith Police Station in order to uncover the identity of a protected witness.
The witness, a young woman, had been granted anonymity and had given evidence at De St Aubin's trial behind screens and with a disguised voice.
The court heard how Lauro and Cheremeh infiltrated the Criminal Intelligence Database on a number of occasions in 2012.
Lauro joined the Met in January 2012 and continued to visit St Aubin in prison. Two months later she made her first attempt to unlawfully gather information from Met systems. However, as a DDO she did not have access to the Met's Criminal Intelligence system which contains highly confidential information.
Lauro enlisted the help of Cheremeh who - as a former Police Community Support Officer - did have access to the intelligence system. Phone records showed a number of texts from Lauro to Cheremeh, persuading him to access the system to gather information about a number of individuals who it was believed may have supplied information to the police.
Police say subsequent messages show that Lauro began a physical relationship with Cheremeh.
Subsequent audits of the intelligence system showed Cheremeh had made numerous unauthorised attempts to discover the identity of the protected witness and others.
The information gathered was passed on and as preparations began for the appeal hearing, it became apparent to officers that information was being obtained from the MPS intelligence system.
A full investigation was begun by officers from the MPS Anti-Corruption Command and subsequent enquires uncovered the conspiracy.
On 22, May 2013 Cheremeh was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Cheremeh was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Lauro was arrested at Luton Airport three days later for the same offence as she returned from a holiday. Both were interviewed and made no comment and denied the allegations in prepared statements.
In March, 2015 both were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct in a Public Office and both Lauro and Cheremeh subsequently resigned from the Met.
St Aubin and Ross had their leave for appeal refused at the Royal Courts of Justice in May 2013.
The court heard that Lauro looked up more than 150 confidential reports while trying to track down the witness and a list of possible names of to Diana Lank, the mother of Aubin's co-defendant.
It was claimed that Fulham resident Lank, 60 who ran the clothes shop Ad Hoc on Kings Road in Chelsea, masterminded the plot after the witness testified against her son Rupert Ross.
She admitted receiving the confidential information but claimed her actions were justified, insisting her son had been wrongfully convicted.
Rupert Ross
Rupert Ross, who lived in Fulham's Vera Road was an ex-Dulwich College student from a privileged background whose family included a number of lawyers. His grandfather, retired Cambridge don and internationally renowned art restorer Herbert Lank, reportedly disowned him after "a cycle of convictions related to drugs".
On 1 May 2009 he disguised himself as a lawyer and shot Darcy Austin-Bruce, 20 at point blank range after falling out with him over drugs.
At the time, the victim was being escorted across Wandsworth Prison car park from the visitor's centre to the prison when Ross shot him in the back. Darcy turned around to face his killer, who shot him in the chest six times. As he collapsed to the ground. Ross ran off to a nearby moped where De St Aubin, also dressed in a suit and crash helmet, had the engine revving before driving off at speed from Alma Terrace onto Trinity Road.
You can read more about the murder here.
During the investigation into the murder, it was claimed Diana Lank was duped by her son into storing a bullet-proof vest in her home. When recovered by police, the vest proved to be a vital part of the case against Ross as it was covered in gunshot residue which matched the bullets used in the murder.
On 22 May 2013 she was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and was charged in March 2015. She was found not guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at the Old Bailey following a second trial on 13 December.
Judge Morris described her as "forceful and manipulative".
February 14, 2017
