Gabrielle Carrington Pleads Not Guilty to Murdering Influencer Klaudia Zakrzewska

Old Bailey Court Appearance and Self-Representation

Wearing a low-cut black outfit with her hair pulled back, the defendant stood before Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC without a barrister, choosing instead to handle her own plea hearing.

When asked by the judge if she was comfortable proceeding without legal counsel, Carrington stated that she did not intend to represent herself for the foreseeable future. According to the Old Bailey proceedings, she told the court: As I’m not represented, I am happy to give a plea today even though I am not represented.

During the hearing, Carrington directly interacted with both the judge and prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC, taking handwritten notes on a large pad of paper. Addressing the pivotal choice of who would defend her at trial, she remarked: This is my life. This is the toughest decision I have to make. Judge Whitehouse formally remanded her into custody and scheduled her trial to begin on January 5, alongside pre-trial hearings set for August 11 and October 9.

The Soho Incident Outside Inca Nightclub

The charges stem from a chaotic sequence of events in the early hours of Sunday, April 19, 2026, outside the Inca nightclub on Argyll Street in Soho, close to the London Palladium. Prosecutor Rizwan Amin detailed to the court that emergency services arrived at the scene around 5:00 AM to find a large crowd of people shouting, many of whom had just spilled out from the nearby venue.

According to court disclosures, Carrington had arrived at Argyll Street in her Mercedes and became involved in an initial dispute with a male after stepping out of the vehicle. As the altercation escalated to draw in other members of the public, security staff intervened to separate the parties. Prosecutor Amin stated that Carrington then returned to her car, moved off abruptly, and mounted the pavement.

The vehicle struck Klaudia Zakrzewska, a 32-year-old influencer known online as Klaudiaglam, who was positioned at the front of the vehicle and subsequently trapped underneath it. As the car moved forward, it also struck a security guard, Mr. Anoush Chyche, who was on the pavement unlocking his e-scooter. When the driver attempted to reverse, the car rolled over Mr. Chyche. Another individual, Latisha Armstrong, was also hit during the maneuver, sustaining a fractured bone in her wrist.

Criminal Charges and Legal Standpoint

Carrington entered formal not-guilty pleas to two charges: murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent regarding the security guard, Mr. Chyche, who is in his 50s and suffered life-changing injuries. She faced an initial charge of attempted murder, which prosecutors upgraded after Ms. Zakrzewska succumbed to her injuries in the hospital on April 25, a week after the incident. A third charge involving driving with excess alcohol was not met with a plea during the session; court records indicate that breath testing administered after the incident recorded 61 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

While Carrington’s social media presence under the handle RIELLEUK counts more than 365,000 followers alongside regular trips to the United Arab Emirates, and the victim maintained a substantial following on TikTok and Instagram, the upcoming January trial will focus strictly on the events of that April morning on Argyll Street.