'Beaten up over Eminem's lyrics'

9:45am Tuesday 14th August 2001

AN EMINEM fan who battered his girlfriend with a dumb-bell weight has been warned he could face jail by an Old Bailey judge.

Sydenham resident Steven Cable, 24, flew into a rage when Hannah Johnson asked him to switch off a CD by the rapper.

The court heard how he punched Miss Johnson, of Meon Court, when she suggested the controversial singer's lyrics were unsuitable for her son.

He then stabbed her foot with a screwdriver before bashing her head with the weight as her terrified child tearfully watched.

“He hurt her from head to toe,” said prosecutor Sarah Lindop. “She entered her flat and saw Cable sitting in the living room listening to his Ammonium CD on the stereo.

“She felt it wasn't appropriate for her son to hear due to the content of the tracks on it and asked him to turn it off.”

The court heard how Cable began shouting at his girlfriend before instructing her to go to the bedroom.

Miss Lindop told the court: “She thought she was being taken there in order to have sex and asked him what was going on. He pulled her by her trousers and then, for no apparent reason, began to punch her with both fists on her head and repeatedly kicked her.”

It was at this stage Cable picked up a hand-weight from his body-building set.

“He struck her head and body with the weight,” Miss Lindop said.

“He then picked up a shoe and struck her head before picking up a screwdriver and causing injuries to her foot.”

Following the assault, it was then alleged Cable bolted the door, hid the keys and told his girlfriend she couldn't leave the house. But Miss Johnson took a spare set of keys and escaped before alerting police from a neighbour's home.

The jury cleared Cable of false imprisonment but convicted him of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Walter Aylen remanded Cable on bail for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports with the warning: “You must understand you are at risk of a custodial sentence.”

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