Iranian Rahim Mohammadi is accused of strangling elderly widow Lea Adri-Soejoko on an allotment
A man accused of strangling an elderly widow on an allotment had called her a ‘bloody old witch’ after she curbed his ambition to take over running the site, a court has heard.
Iranian Rahim Mohammadi wanted 80-year-old Lea Adri-Soejoko to retire from her job as secretary of the Colindale Allotment Association so he could manage it himself, it was claimed.
He allegedly launched into a heated ‘monologue’ at Mrs Adri-Soejoko at an annual general meeting in September 2016 after she said it was not up to him to decide who should be evicted from their plot.
In February last year, he allegedly beat her up at the allotment in north London and then strangled her with the starter cord of a lawnmower to stop her from reporting the attack, the Old Bailey heard.
Her body was found in a locked mower shed after her family became concerned that she had not turned up at a meeting.
Association chairman Clive Critchley told jurors how Mohammadi had sworn and walked out of the AGM when she said evictions should be decided by the whole committee and ‘not by you Rahim’.
The defendant and a couple of others had previously suggested she retire so they could take over her role on the allotments, Mr Critchley said.
Describing the exchange, he said: ‘He was standing and Lea was sitting and he seemed very sensitive to that remark and after about three or four minutes of exchanges he swore, turned on his heel and left the building.
Iranian Rahim Mohammadi wanted 80-year-old Lea Adri-Soejoko to retire from her job as secretary of the Colindale Allotment Association so he could manage it himself, it was claimed
‘It was very heated, more like a monologue by Rahim. Something like ‘bloody old witch’.
‘I thought it was out of order and I remember thinking to myself we were all volunteers doing this job that was very demanding at times as a voluntary act.
‘There should be some better way of resolving these things. I thought these things should be dealt with by the council.’
Later, Mr Critchley apologised to Mrs Adri-Soejoko for losing control of the meeting, and she reassured him by saying: ‘I’m a tough old stick,’ the court heard.
On whether she should retire or stand down, Mr Critchley said: ‘I did not feel favourable towards the suggestion.
‘I thought Lea was doing a relatively good job and it was useful and therapeutic to her. She liked to do the job.’
Deciding who should be evicted was an ‘onerous burden’ on the committee after Barnet Council gave up oversight of the allotments in 2012 in favour of self management, he said.
Mr Critchley told jurors he had met Mohammadi in 2006 when he was a patient of Freedom from Torture.
The organisation to help torture victims suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder through horticulture and psychotherapy had allocated plots on the allotment, he said.
On the day of Mrs Adri-Soejoko’s death, Mohammadi had texted him twice, about meeting his psychotherapist and to report that another plot-holder had complained about his neighbour, the court heard.
Mrs Adri-Soejoko’s body was found in a locked mower shed after her family became concerned that she had not turned up at a meeting
The defendant rang him the next day, saying he had heard that Mrs Adri-Soejoko had been found dead and had gone to the allotment with a friend, only to find it taped off by police.
Mr Critchley said: ‘He sounded distressed. It sounded like he wanted more details and also to share. I think he said something like, ‘What happened to Lea’.
‘He did say, ‘Shall I contact the police?’ I said, ‘I think the police will be contacting us’.’
Mrs Adri-Soejoko’s daughter Tessa said her mother had been ‘subdued’ after the dispute with Mohammadi and not acted like her usual ‘forthright’ self.
She said: ‘She did not argue with me when I scolded her about the confrontation. I said to her that she could not speak to Rahim in that way, that he’s not family.’
The allotment was her mother’s ‘passion’, she said, adding: ‘She loved the work at the allotment and she spent a lot of time almost running the place. She really enjoyed it.’
Cross-examining, Tyrone Smith QC asked about her mother’s relationship with the accused.
He said: ‘Before the AGM meeting in September 2016, were you aware they were on friendly terms?’
Ms Adri-Soejoko agreed.
Mohammadi, 41, of Hackney, north-east London, denies murder and the Old Bailey trial continues.
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