Nurse's killer is jailed for life

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A builder who strangled a nurse with her own blouse during a burglary at her home has been jailed for life.

Tian Chen, 33, was hired by Mei Choo Ngan, 54, to carry out work in her home in Palmers Green, north London.

He used her spare key to enter the house in July 2007, hit her on the head and tried to set fire to her body.

The judge at the Old Bailey called the murder "cruel and callous" and jailed Chen, of Lordship Lane, Edmonton, for a minimum term of 21 years.

During the unprovoked attack, Miss Ngan - who worked as a sister at Moorfields Eye Hospital - was dragged bleeding from one bedroom to another, the court heard.

Judge Stephen Kramer told Chen: "You used gratuitous violence to snuff out her life, leaving her friends and family shocked.

"This remains a cruel and callous murder."

Chen, known as "fat boy" and originally from Malaysia, was in the UK illegally.

Miss Ngan's cousin Ho Kin Wing described her as a dedicated nurse whose death had left a "vacuum".

He said: "The senseless killing of Mei has left me and my family in shock. Mei's life was so heartlessly cut short and taken from us during the time we all talked about her retirement.

"Society has unceremoniously lost an upright and moral member."