Wiley has been granted additional time to prepare for a forthcoming court appearance, with a judge giving him a two-week extension to apply for legal aid and consult his solicitors.
The grime MC was charged with burglary and assault last month after allegedly breaking into former world kickboxing champion Ali Jacko’s home in East London, smashing plates and assaulting Jacko.
Jacko had reportedly been relaxing at his home with friends at the time of the alleged incident, with a friend calling the police after the situation allegedly escalated, with Wiley later arrested.
Wiley appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday (September 13) to front charges of assault by beating and burglary with intent to cause criminal damage, the Daily Mail reports. No pleas were entered during the hearing, at which the rapper â real name Richard Cowie â represented himself.
District judge Ross Johnson granted Cowie’s request for the hearing to be pushed back, postponing it until September 27 and giving the rapper conditional bail until then.
“At around 2200hrs on Saturday 28 August police were called to a flat in Forest Gate. Officers attended the location,” Metropolitan Police commented in a statement upon the rapper’s arrest.
“It was alleged that a man had entered the flat, assaulted the occupant and caused criminal damage to property. The man was arrested and taken into custody. The occupant, an adult male, sustained a minor injury.”
Wiley and Jacko were known to each other before the incident, with the rapper believed to have used Jacko’s recording studio prior to the pandemic.
Considered a pioneering figure in the world of grime, Cowie has released over a dozen studio albums throughout his career as Wiley. The latest, ‘Anti-Systemic’, arrived over the weekend. Last year saw him release two albums, ‘Godfather III’ and ‘Boasty Gang’.
The musician was honoured with an MBE in the 2018 New Years Honours for services to music.
The rapper faced backlash last year after making anti-Semitic comments that led to his eventual suspension from social media sites and a review of his MBE by the Cabinet Office. Wiley later publicly apologised for the comments in an interview with Sky News, but denied that he was racist.
âMy comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people,” he said. “I want to apologise for generalising, and I want to apologise for comments that were looked at as antisemitic.”
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