A supply driver who murdered his spouse, set fireplace to their dwelling, and blamed their teenage son has been jailed for not less than 29 years.
Amidu Koroma, 48, stabbed 46-year-old group nurse Mariam Kamara 4 instances within the face, neck and chest with a kitchen knife as she slept in her mattress.
He then used petrol to start out a fireplace to cover what he had achieved earlier than blaming his 19-year-old son Ishmael, wrongly accusing him of being mentally disturbed and re-enacting a scene from the Netflix thriller You.
However jurors heard the couple’s relationship was “poisonous” and Ms Kamara had repeatedly expressed fears to associates that he was going to kill her.
Jurors had been additionally advised that the defendant, who had a baby with one other lady, had feared she would go away him for a person she had struck up an intimate friendship with in Sierra Leone.
Koroma was discovered responsible of Ms Kamara’s homicide and arson following a trial on the Previous Bailey.
On Monday, Decide Rebecca Poulet KC jailed him for all times with a minimal time period of 29 years with a concurrent sentence of seven years for arson.
The decide advised Koroma he had deliberate the homicide as a result of he didn’t need Ms Kamara to journey to Sierra Leone.
She went on: “You had deliberate to burn her physique and thereby destroy the proof of her accidents however very cautious investigation and your personal inconsistent statements have uncovered your crimes and your undoubted duty for them.”
The decide stated that blaming his son was a “significantly merciless and ugly” facet of the case.
Different aggravating options included the truth that the killing was carried out in a background of abuse and “terrifying threats”, and that the sufferer’s son, then aged 17, was asleep in the home.
Opposite to the defendant’s claims, Ishmael was a “typical teenager” and Ms Kamara was a “deeply caring and accountable mom”, the decide stated.
In a sufferer affect assertion, Ishmael, who’s now finding out accountancy at college, spoke of how a lot he missed his mom and had been deeply affected by her loss of life, now discovering himself unable to belief anybody.
Beforehand, the court docket had heard how Ishmael had referred to as emergency companies within the early hours of January 24 2022 after fireplace broke out in an upstairs bed room of the household dwelling in Railton Street, Brixtonsouth London.
As flames and smoke gushed from a first-floor window, the defendant calmly advised emergency employees that his spouse was trapped inside, the court docket heard.
Ms Kamara’s badly burnt physique was later discovered mendacity on her mattress surrounded by the distinctive odor of petrol.
An empty jerry can and funnel was discarded on the bottom flooring and the sufferer’s blood was recognized on bannisters close to the underside of the steps.
A autopsy examination concluded Ms Kamara had died from stab wounds to the neck and chest earlier than the hearth began.
The defendant denied going into the blazing bed room but had sustained a burn to his foot from shut proximity to the flames.
An evaluation of his garments revealed warmth harm brought on by publicity to flames, jurors had been advised.
A kitchen knife saved in a block was examined and located to have Ms Kamara’s blood on it.
This was a brutal homicide and an appalling act of violence towards a lady
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Wooden
In a police interview, Koroma claimed he had been asleep on the couch and was woken by the smoke alarm at 3am.
In the course of the trial, he modified his account saying Ishmael had woken him up downstairs and he had initially lied to guard him.
Underneath cross-examination, Ishmael denied being unstable and killing his mom after having a nasty mother and father’ night.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Woodof Scotland Yardsaid: “This was a brutal homicide and an appalling act of violence towards a lady.
“After murdering his spouse, Koroma then began a fireplace to cowl up his actions. This was an extra egocentric act which put different members of the general public in danger.
“My officers carried out an in-depth investigation into this homicide and labored exhausting to collect a variety of proof which pointed to Koroma because the killer.
“Our ideas are with Ms Kamara’s household and associates and specifically along with her son who we proceed to assist via this trauma.”
