Former 'X Factor' singer denies running down woman outside London club
by Paul Godfrey · UPIAug. 3 (UPI) -- A former finalist in the U.K. version of X Factor pleaded not guilty in court in London on Monday to charges she murdered a social media influencer and injured a security guard in an incident outside a nightclub in the capital's Soho nightlife district.
Gabrielle Carrington, 29, of Manchester, denied fatally injuring Klaudia Zakrzewska by allegedly running her over with her car on the sidewalk outside Inca club in the early hours of April 19, after an altercation with an unidentified male escalated into a multi-person dispute.
Carrington, also pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with intent against security guard Anoush Chyche, who sustained life-changing injuries after he was also allegedly struck by the vehicle after he attempted to intervene.
Zakrzewska died of her injuries in the hospital April 25, prompting prosecutors to upgrade the charges against Carrington from attempted murder to murder.
Appearing at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court, by video-link from Bronzefield prison in Surrey, Carrington was not asked to enter a plea to a third charge of DUI.
She was remanded in custody, pending a trial scheduled to open at the Old Bailey on Jan. 5, with Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC scheduling pre-trial hearings for Aug. 11 and Oct. 9.
Carrington, who represented herself, told Whitehouse she had been agonizing over appointing legal counsel due to the gravity of the decision and the impact it would have on the rest of her life.
The former Miss Dynamix singer made it made it to live finals of X Factor in 2013 but the three piece girl-group was eliminated in 10th place.
Carrington and Zakrzewska women were both prominent on social media, including Instagram and TikTok, with more than 635,000 online followers between them.