Family of student who fell 80ft to her death begged her to break up with ‘revenge porn’ boyfriend

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The family of a business student begged her to break up with her ‘toxic’ boyfriend days before she fell 80ft to her death from her London flat, an inquest heard today.

Damilya Jussipaliyeva, 21, died on June 3, 2017, a week after her then-boyfriend threatened to send revenge porn to her Muslim family in Kazakhstan and Dubai, the hearing was told.

Her ex-boyfriend Alessio Bianchi admitted disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress and one count of assault by beating her when he appeared in court in March 2018 relating to an incident the week before her death. 

A post-mortem found she died from injuries consistent with falling from a large height. 

There was no evidence of assault or restraint by a third party and also no injuries indicative of self-harm.

Bianchi and Damilya had been in an on-off relationship for two-and-a-half years before her death.

She told police that there had been a row at his apartment on 12 May and he had ‘grabbed her by the throat, struck her four or five times, spat on her and that she had passed out for a few seconds.’

The couple’s friends at Regent’s University were aware of their tumultuous relationship and Bianchi had reported her to police himself on several occasions, when she had scratched him and she had attempted suicide.

By 21 May 2017 Ms Jussipaliyeva was back with Bianchi, and when the business student’s sister found out it sparked an argument – which would turn out to be their last interaction. 

Giving evidence at Inner West London Coroner’s Court today via videolink from Dubai her sister Ainel Jussipaliyeva said: ‘We were just trying to explain to her.

‘We suspected she was taking drugs because at times her behaviour was different and I knew that Bianchi was taking drugs because she told me. 

‘We wanted her to decide, no one wanted to decide instead of her.

‘He ruined our relationships, my relationship with my sister.

‘He was manipulative.’

The 24-year-old student was sent a video recording on WhatsApp of her performing oral sex in a phone booth in north London, on May 25, 2017.

Attached was a message saying: ‘I am going to keep destroying you.’

One of Jussipaliyeva’s friends received the same clip from three different numbers, with one containing the threat: ‘I will f*** you up next, my love.’ 

Southwark Crown Court heard the couple had gone for a night out together on June 1 2017 and came back to his apartment in Paddington.

Bianchi is said to have pushed her out of his apartment in the early hours of the morning and thrown her into the water feature outside, leaving her distraught and humiliated. 

He however claimed that she was trying to stop her from killing herself.  

The violence outside the building lasted for over half an hour before the concierge called police and in the early hours of 2 June.

Bianchi, born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was arrested and had his phone seized.

The next day he received distraught text messages, similar to those he said he had received in the past, from Damilya.

Bianchi called 999 shortly before 1am on 3 June to report his girlfriend was in a distressed state.

The responding officers were later criticised for spending around 40 minutes chatting to him in his apartment, only arriving at Ms Jussipaliyeva’s home nearby at around 1.30am – ten minutes after she plunged to her death.

A post-mortem found she died from injuries consistent with falling from a large height. There was no evidence of assault or restraint by a third party and also no injuries indicative of self-harm. 

She had left a note which read: ‘Alessio I love you, sorry.’

A toxicology report found a high level of Xanax and a low level of alcohol. 

Cocaine was found in the urine, but not in the blood, suggesting she was not under the influence. 

In April 2018, Bianchi was spared jail after admitting disclosing private sexual images and films with intent to cause distress and one count of assault by beating.

Bianchi, now 30, was handed a 12-week suspended sentence, ordered to carry out a rehabilitation activity requirement and made to pay £250 costs. 

The couple had met while studying at Regent’s University in London, one of five private universities in the UK.

An inquest investigating the death of Ms Jussipaliyeva, who dreamed of being of a professional makeup artist, resumed today at Westminster Coroner’s Court.

While originally intended for a jury hearing, now only a coroner will return a conclusion into how Ms Jussipaliyeva came to her death.

Ainel Jussipaliyeva, Damilya’s sister, gave live evidence from Dubai in which she described herself as ‘very angry’ with Bianchi.

She said her sister had broken up with Bianchi in March, following an argument in which she suspected him of cheating on her, and visited her in Dubai.

She said: ‘She was actually scared of him. He was either drunk or under drugs I’m not sure.

‘He came during the night in the appointment, crashed the apartment as per her words.

‘My mother flew to London to be with her and after that, she came to Dubai.

‘She knew it was a toxic relationship and she was happy she was finally over it and wanted to start from the beginning and focus on her studies.

‘[I knew it was toxic] because she was thinking she needed to break up with him but she couldn’t because she was in love.’

Her sister said the last time she spoke to her sister was when they fought over Damilya getting back with her ex.

Ms Jussipaliyeva said: ‘I reminded her that she wanted to finish her studies, he’s bad for her, and that she needed to think more about herself.

‘She started to fight with me, saying he’s a good person, maybe it’s her fault everything is going bad.

‘She was saying nonsense. It was not her words, saying he’s a good guy and she’s bad.

‘I didn’t recognise her. She didn’t want to listen to me.’

Damilya’s sister was also asked whether the Kazakh student was threatened with being ‘cut off’ from finances if she chose to keep dating Bianchi.

She said her parents were considering ‘all options’ and if it happened it would have been a ‘temporary punishment’.

Alexandra Felix, QC, for Bianchi, also asked about the family’s view of her sex life, in light of the recorded sex acts.

She said: ‘We knew about her sexual life, but no one would expect the recording.

‘We are Muslim but don’t practise the religion. It wasn’t strict to have a sexual life only after marriage.’   

The Coroner said Bianchi, who will be called as a witness tomorrow and was handed a suspended sentence, will face questions around his misconduct.

Assistant Coroner Bernard Richmond QC said: ‘Whilst there may be a degree of squeamishness and anxiety on the side of Mr Bianchi, and I will of course hear any applications about self-incrimination if they arise, but it’s not part of my role nor am I interested in nailing every point home about misconduct.

‘If it is relevant to state of mind and impact then absolutely I must go there.

‘As far as police conduct is concerned, I am looking at whether police response could have been quicker but there is nothing I can read that can suggest there was a deliberate plan to delay matters or to ignore what was going on.’

He added: ‘Mr Bianchi made a genuine police call to the police saying she is in trouble and if he has any human sensitivity at all I suspect he is holding himself over the coals about any potential impact on her and the impact that he had.’

Paying tribute, Ms Jussipaliyeva said: ‘Damilya was very cheerful, very happy person.

‘She had lots of friends, especially when she started to study in London.

‘She was very sociable, she had lots of friends and good relationships with family, relatives, and all the neighbours around her knew who knew her. She was the sunshine in our family.’

The inquest continues tomorrow, with Bianchi due to give evidence via videolink.  

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