Somali refugee who stabbed girlfriend 57 times with shard of broken mirror is jailed for life

Friday, June 22, 2012
By LEON WATSON

Zakaria Mohamed was on probation when he killed Amina Adan in south London
Old Bailey told he had assaulted her twice before during their year-long relationship

Zakaria Mohamed (left) who was jailed for at least 26 years today for stabbing his girlfriend Amina Adan 57 times

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A violent refugee was jailed for at least 26 years today for stabbing his girlfriend 57 times.

Somalian Zakaria Mohamed, 29, was on probation when he killed television recruitment consultant Amina Adan, 32.

He had assaulted her twice before during their year-long relationship, but magistrates put off sentencing him so he could take part in a domestic abuse programme.

But she took him back and he killed her with three knives and shards of glass from a broken mirror before the counselling sessions were implemented, the Old Bailey heard.

Judge Anthony Morris said he did not know why the sessions were not prioritised before Mohamed served an unpaid work element of a community order.

Mohamed pleaded guilty to murdering Miss Adan on November 6, last year, at the home they shared in Walworth, south London.

After a row, drunken Mohamed went home, dragged her down the stairs by the hair, beat her unconscious, kicked and stamped on her and began to stab her.

After police arrived, Mohamed threatened to kill them and had to be subdued with a Taser gun.

Miss Adan, who was brought up in Kenya, was described as being hard working and popular at the Al Jazeera news network where she worked in human resources.

Judge Morris told Mohamed: 'You are a controlling and domineering man and Amina was frightened of you and you sought to control her with violence.

'I am satisfied this was a punishment for her standing up to you.

'This was a savage, brutal, sustained and premeditated attack in which you clearly intended to kill.

'It was clearly a totally senseless killing in which you deprived a hardworking young woman of her life.'

Mohamed had been in breach of a community order and a deferred sentence at the time.

He came to the UK in 2002 on a forged Dutch passport. His request for asylum was turned down but he was given indefinite leave to remain in 2007 under an amnesty.

In April 2011, he pleaded guilty to battery on Miss Adan and was placed on a community order which included a domestic abuse programme.

In May, 2011, he punched Miss Adan in the stomach and went on the run before being arrested in July.
In September, he was convicted of the assault and on October 20, of breaching the order.

On October 20, Camberwell Green magistrates deferred a likely prison sentence until January 20 this year, so he could take part in the programme.

Judge Morris said he was surprised the programme had not been implemented first.

He said: 'It would be more important that they should have prioritised the domestic violence programme.

'This was not something the probation service were not aware of because he committed another offence, and it became even more urgent he should embark on this programme.

'Unfortunately, for reasons I do not fully understand, that programme had not been started fully.'

Prosecutor Timothy Carey told the judge the Ministry of Justice would be holding a review into the case because the murder took place while Mohamed was subject to probation.

Miss Adan's sister, Hanan, said in a statement: 'We will probably never know why he could possibly act in this way to another human being. It is something we will never forgive or forget.'

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