This New British Gangster Film Shows an MC Performing the Same Crime He Would Later Commit in Real Life

Last night, central London saw the premiere of a new British thriller. The Intent is the story (I think) of an undercover police officer called Gunz (Dylan Duffus) who goes along for a very violent ride with Hoodz (played by grime MC Scorcher) as they murder and pillage at every corner shop and mechanic in south London. The locations they rob tend to have an inexplicable amount of cash in them; it's never really explained why a corner shop has a duffel bag filled with £20,000 resting below the counter.

Femi Oyeniran – who directed, produced and wrote the film – plays Mitch, who's just happy to sell eighths of weed to his mates and isn't really on shooting people in the face in broad daylight every other week, so turns back to the church.

A scene in the film finds Scorcher's Hoodz parlaying with a local gangster called Brownie in an attempt to sell him a few keys of cocaine he's just stolen. Brownie is played by rapper DVS (pronounced "Devious"). As he enters Brownie's domain, he finds him torturing a screaming man on a table by burning him with a hot iron.

This would be a unremarkable segment of a crime film, had DVS – real name Courtney Hutchinson, from Brixton, south London – not been charged with the torture and rape of a woman in February of this year.

Hutchinson reportedly attacked the woman at his flat near City Airport after an argument. He'd met her when she was 17. He allegedly whipped her with phone and television wires, punched her in the face and throat repeatedly, pushed a chair leg into her stomach and burnt her with a hot iron. She was then raped repeatedly by Hutchinson, who forced her to have a high temperature shower, even though she asked for a cold one to soothe the burns on her skin. He was charged with rape and false imprisonment and has pleaded guilty to both – although, confusingly,a tweet was sent from his account a couple of days ago that read, "Whoever's dumb enough to think I could rape a 17 year girl then so be it. But I could never be that guy. So carry on trying [to] slander my name." He will face sentencing in September.

I'm no expert in the machinations of the film industry. I've never made a film. I've never had to raise money from investors to make a passion project. A lot of work and effort has gone into making The Intent, regardless of how it turned out. But to feature a man who has been charged with a crime that is eerily similar to the one he acts out on screen is too great a folly not to mention.

The filmmakers have said in a statement to VICE that: "Before the production of The Intent commenced (two years ago – in July 2014) all cast members were vigorously screened with respect to any criminal activity and gang affiliations before being allowed to participate. What's more, the film has been picture-locked [final edit has been completed] since last September."

Though the crime was committed in February, five months after the final edit was completed, it has been a further five months from the crime to now. Five months in which the decision to pull the scene was not made. Even now, as the film prepares to go on general release, it is not too late. Hutchinson's role is not even remotely integral to the story; the scene could quite easily have been cut. To let the film go to premiere with the scene remaining – one that graphically shows a man performing a staged act of torture he would subsequently use on a woman whose life is now irrevocably changed as a result of it – boggles the mind.

The full statement from the filmmakers can be found here.

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