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Jurors at Southwark Crown Court heard how London Metropolitan police officer Lewis Rollins, 28, allegedly grabbed his girlfriend by the throat twice at a hotel during a family outing.
Dr Georgia Miller testified how she encountered Rollins in April 2022 through the dating app Bumble and described feeling "trapped" in the relationship whilst attempting to assist him with his financial troubles.
She recounted how Rollins allegedly hurled her from the bed before being "slammed" against a wall.
Rollins stands accused of mistreating his girlfriend and deceiving multiple women and siphoning their money to sustain his gambling habit.
"He pushed me against the wall... he had me by the throat, but like with one hand so I could still breathe. I don't think he was trying to kill me, he was just trying to scare me," Dr Miller stated. She fled from him, barricading herself in the bathroom, but upon emerging he launched another attack, the court was told.
"It was awful, I was crying, then eventually he started crying and backed away," Dr Miller said.
Rollins told Dr Miller that he was struggling to pay his rent, but on the same day he had spent £1,000 gambling, said the prosecutor.
Jurors previously heard how Rollins dated two women simultaneously and took money from both of them before striking up a relationship with a third woman, who took out a £4,000 loan to help with his spiraling debts.
In texts, Rollins told one of the women there was "no-one in the police like me – I'm lazy, not hard-working, all I care about is drinking and gambling". Rollins, who was a Pc in the Met's central west command unit, is now on trial accused of coercive or controlling behaviour, fraud and damaging property.
"The financial problems Mr Rollins experienced was largely due to a gambling habit," said prosecutor Rekha Kodikara.
"Mr Rollins turns to these three women to help fund him and his living expenses, given the fact he has spent money on his gambling habit."
Rollins had met Alisha Steeds in February 2022 and is said to have unsuccessfully tried to persuade her to take out a loan of £4,000 on his behalf, but she had given him £1,500 in May 2022 to cover his rent.
This is not Rollins only run in with the law.
In 2024, Rollins was found guilty and convicted of assaulting another woman while off duty. He was suspended by the London Metropolitan Police after being charged.
Dating App Scams Revealed
During the years 2023 and 2024, a man in the Scotland used multiple aliases to scam women out of money on the Bumble dating app by claiming he had cancer and sustained an injury.
Ryan McVeigh, then 31 years-old, was found to have scammed as many as 20 females via the dating app Tinder.
The High Court in Glasgow heard his main offending involved “the sexual, financial and emotional abuse of two women — who were induced into believing they’d formed a relationship with someone over the internet”.
Prosecutor Michael Macintosh said: “The truth was they were communicating with McVeigh, who was using a false identity.”
McVeigh used the name Gary Stephenson when he contacted his first victim on Tinder in May 2023.
Last year, a 44-year-old woman met a man on Bumble who claimed to be a wealthy finance professional. He convinced her they were buying a home together and she wired him $272,000 a a down payment.
The “broker” was actually his accomplice, and the home purchase never existed.
Brandon Dae Up Kiehm was previously convicted in 2017 for similar "romance scams".
Also last year, Nigel Baker, who targeted five single divorced women with claims of a ‘risk-free’ business, was given a 17-year sentence.
He was found to have obtained hundreds of thousands of pounds to feed his gambling addiction.
The father of two told victims that their money was not at risk, claiming he was an online bookmaker and not a gambler. He then sunk the savings into betting platforms like Betfair.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
