“Old Bailey entrance” by Tbmurray – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A man who beat and killed his girlfriend in her own home has been jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to manslaughter midway through his trial at the Old Bailey.

Judge Richard Hone QC imposed the sentence after the trial heard that Abu had been a ‘controlling and abusive’ boyfriend.

37 year old Hussein Abu from Whitechapel Road, E1 accepted responsibility for the death of 26-year-old Sannah Javed at her flat in Green Lane, Ilford on the evening of 2nd December 2014.

Hussein Abu- custody photograph. Image: Met Police

The court heard that at the time of her death Sannah had been in a turbulent relationship with Abu for a number of years.

Their relationship had been peppered with domestic altercations.

By December 2014, Sannah and Abu were living apart.

When police officers were called to Sannah’s flat in Ilford by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) they found Abu there in an agitated state.

He initially told officers at the scene that Sannah had collapsed while sitting on her bed, but would later offer two alternative versions of the evening’s events.

Sannah was taken to King George Hospital where she died at 32 minutes past midnight on 3rd December.

Sannah Javed- manslaughter victim. Image: Met Police.

Following a special post mortem on 6th December, it became apparent that Sannah had sustained a number of internal and external injuries.

She had 51 separate injuries including a fractured eye socket and cracked ribs.

She’d slowly bled to death from internal injuries after Abu had punched her in the stomach.

Home Office Pathologist Dr Ashley Fegan-Earl concluded that some of these injuries were in keeping with a third party assault.

Abu was arrested on 6th December and was charged the following day.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Duffield, Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said:

The police investigation exposed Hussein Abu as a violent and controlling man, a person who, after attacking his partner, was prepared to lie in an effort to escape justice.

Abu had ample opportunity to admit his guilt earlier but chose to put Sannah’s family through the further ordeal of a criminal trial. I can only hope today’s outcome helps her family begin to come to terms with their loss.

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