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Banker who murdered woman with pestle jailed | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A City banker who bludgeoned a woman to death with a pestle has been jailed. | |
Zahid Naseem, 48, killed Christina Abbotts at a flat in Crawley, West Sussex, in May, after paying for her services as a high-class escort. | |
Judge Christine Laing said Ms Abbotts would have experienced "unimaginable terror" during the attack, which was of "extraordinary ferocity". | |
Naseem was convicted of murder after a trial at Lewes Crown Court and jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years. | |
Jurors heard Ms Abbotts had suffered more than 13 wounds to her head and 20 other injuries. | Jurors heard Ms Abbotts had suffered more than 13 wounds to her head and 20 other injuries. |
Naseem, of Amersham, Buckinghamshire, stayed in the flat for 12 hours after killing Ms Abbotts, 29, and pretended to be unconscious when police arrived, the court heard. | |
He had claimed he was acting in self-defence after Ms Abbotts tried to strangle him during a sex game, but the judge rejected that suggestion. | |
Ms Abbotts was described by her family as "petite, happy and well-educated". | |
In a victim impact statement, her family said they had been "hoping one day to walk her down the aisle, she would have been such a beautiful bride, and instead we had to take her in a coffin". | |
Judge Laing told Naseem: "When I consider the extent of all the injuries, you inflicted considerable pain. | |
"The terror of her final few moments of life is unimaginable." | |
The judge said Ms Abbotts, as an escort, "had chosen to earn her money in a business that is as old as time". | |
"And one that has always carried with it huge risks of danger, as this case sadly demonstrated," she added. | |
Judge Laing said Naseem had become addicted to drugs and alcohol and became "obsessed" with escorts. |