A drill star dubbed the most ‘hated rapper in London’ has been convicted of driving a £200,000-plus Lamborghini without insurance close to Piccadilly Circus, MailOnline can reveal.
Digga D was prosecuted over the incident in 2023 while languishing in HMP Brixton where he is currently serving more than three years for drugs offences.
The 24-year-old star, whose birth name is Rhys Herbert, has been convicted of driving the supercar without insurance on Piccadilly in the West End of London in October 2023.
Piccadilly Circus is where he has filmed his music videos in the past, once shutting it down when he was mobbed by fans who scaled the world-famous statue of Eros.
He faces an unlimited fine and a potential driving ban, according to court documents, and may even appear at Bexley Magistrates’ Court from his London jail via video link when he is sentenced.
Digga D is currently serving time for importing and dealing close to 50kg of cannabis. He was arrested last year and lives-streamed the moment armed police crashed into his home.
Digga, as he is called by his fans, has multiple convictions for gang-related crime and drugs with friends claiming he had earned up to £3million from rapping before he was jailed four months ago. He told a court last year that he began smoking drugs aged 12.
His use of rap songs and videos to goad rivals and glorify violence has seen him dubbed ‘London’s most hated rapper’ online due to the number of enemies he has.
Herbert, from west London, was even subject to a ultra-rare police order that controls his musical output because it was linked to violence.
On one occasion he was almost blinded when stabbed in the eye by a rival during a previous spell in jail for a machete attack. On another occasion someone tried to kill him by opening fire on him in his car, MailOnline understands.
Digga D, pictured, was jailed in January for three years and 11 months for selling 45 kilos of cannabis after helping import the drug from the US. The car lover has been convicted of driving a Lamborghini without insurance close to Piccadilly Circus before he was sentenced
Rapper Digga D in a video in front of a Lamborghini. He has been convicted of driving one of the supercars without insurance in central London
Digga D has a fleet of cars, this is a post where one was broken into and had items stolen from the boot
In January this year Digga D was jailed for three years and 11 months for selling 45 kilos of cannabis after helping import the illegal drug from the US.
He was arrested after police launched a raid on his property in Bracebridge Heath near Lincoln in the early hours of February 21 last year – while he was broadcasting live on Instagram .
He pleaded guilty last May to importing 3.6 kilos of cannabis in June and July 2023 and a further charge of supplying cannabis.
At his sentencing in January Judge Simon Hirst decided on the level of Herbert’s drug dealing after hearing two days of evidence, because the prosecution did not accept the basis of his pleas.
Judge Hirst said he was satisfied Herbert had played a significant role in selling cannabis for a commercial profit and jailed him for just under four years.
Digga D was arrested after armed police launched a raid on his property in Bracebridge Heath near Lincoln in the early hours of February 21 last year – while he was broadcasting live on Instagram
Digga can be heard shouting: ‘What do you lot want, I’m here! I am here! Stop! What are you lot doing?’ with the sound of smashing glass in the background
The court heard Herbert had six previous convictions for 13 offences, including possessing an offensive weapon and violent disorder for which he was sentenced to 30 months youth detention in March 2020.
Herbert told a previous hearing that he began smoking cannabis from the age of 12 and used the drug throughout his teenage years to “help with his frequent migraines”.
He claimed it was ‘a benefit’ to buy his cannabis in bulk as he could afford it and it proved cheaper.
The musician said buying in bulk also reduced the chance of him coming to the attention of the police as he was often stopped both in London and elsewhere in the country.
He said he also obtained bags of cannabis to use in the video for his hit song I’m From.
Mobile phone footage of the star handling a bag of cannabis and allegedly complaining about the poor quality was also played in court.
A number of photographs also showed Herbert handling large amounts of cash, the court was told.
His criminal past goes back to his teenage years.
He last left prison in May 2020 after being sentenced to two and a half years for his part in a machete brawl in front of shoppers in central London.
The rapper, pictured, whose real name is Rhys Herbert, pleaded guilty last May to importing 3.6 kilos of cannabis in June and July 2023 and a further charge of supplying cannabis
Digga D (pictured centre) invited his fan base to join him in Piccadilly Circus in London when he filmed a new music video in 2023. It was nearby where he was caught driving the Lamborghini
Hundreds of fans were seen climbing the Eros statue in support of the drill star
Anti-knife campaigners also criticised the BBC for producing a documentary about a violent rapper in which he complains about his struggle to make music that glorifies gang attacks.
BBC promotional material for the programme at the time stated: ‘Police say they target drill because it promotes and causes violence, but the genre’s supporters call this censorship and say that the art simply reflects real life. Digga’s situation, and his ongoing story, embodies this dilemma.
A Metropolitan Police order even banned him rapping about rivals or specific attacks, although he can refer to violence generally.
His supporters said he was being censored.
But he had hidden apparent coded references to attacks in songs, and the name of his group, The Conspiracy Gang Members, is thought to be a ‘tribute’ to members of his 1011 drill gang arrested in 2018 on their way to attack rivals.
In 2018 five members of the 1011 gang, including Digga D, were jailed and banned from making violent videos after they were caught with machetes and baseball bats on the way to attack a rival gang in 2017.
They had got in a black car and drove towards the postcode area of their rival’s, the ’12 World Gang’ from Shepherd’s Bush, intent on revenge.
But police swooped and found they were carrying deadly weapons.
A judge banned the five young men from mentioning death or injury in their songs or on social media and ordered them to inform police before they record or perform songs.
In 2019 cyber criminals broke into the Metropolitan Police Twitter account and posted tweets calling for the release of Digga D from jail.
In a now-deleted tweet the hackers wrote: ‘FREE DIGGA D ON FOENEM GANG.’
The account, which is normally only used to update the public on ongoing policing matters, had posted tweets that said: ‘‘F*** the police’ and ‘What you gonna do … phone the police?’
In one video viewed nearly three million times, on YouTube Digga D boasted about having to bleach his knife after using it to attack someone.
His songs are also explicit about sex as well as gang rivalries in London.
