Convicted killers sentenced to whole life jail terms for murder of Vietnamese woman

Two killers who met in prison have been sentenced to whole life tariffs, with no chance of early release, for the murder of a seven stone Vietnamese woman, before dumping her body in a burning car.

Maintenance men Stephen Unwin, 40, and William McFall, 51, put Quyen Ngoc Nguyen through an unimaginable four hour ordeal after she was lured to Unwin's home in Shiney Row, Tyne and Wear.

Unwin was also convicted of her rape - his sentence for that, 18 years, formed part of the whole life sentence.

McFall, who even posed for a grinning selfie after the pair had committed their depraved and greed-fuelled crime, was cleared of the rape charge when the pair were originally found guilty at Newcastle Crown Court last month.

The pair angrily rejected the sentences when Mr Justice Morris handed them down.

Throughout the five week trial, the victim's sister Quyhn Ngoc Nguyen was in the public gallery, holding a framed photo of her sibling.

Quyhn told us:

"I believe that if these two people were released at some point in the future, then definitely some innocent people could be harmed.

"I think they should never be released, they are evil.''

Firefighters discovered Ms Nguyen's badly burned body in the back of her Audi after it had been torched beside allotments last August.

The jury heard how her killers ate a curry they had cooked as their victim lay dying in the house.

Detective Ed Small from Northumbria Police said:

"These were two violent and cowardly individuals who just took what they want from vulnerable victims."

The mother-of-two worked at her sister's nail bar but also helped Vietnamese people find accommodation when she came across Unwin, who worked for landlords maintaining properties.

She would not have known he was a life prisoner out on licence for murdering a pensioner in 1998.

Tellingly, he also set fire to his elderly victim's house in a bid to cover his tracks.

McFall, who is from Northern Ireland, also murdered a pensioner during a 1996 break-in.

The killers met in the prison system at HMP Swaleside, a Category B institution, in Kent. They got in touch via Facebook after they were both released on licence.

They teamed up, working together legitimately, but also stealing cannabis from farms they found in local properties.

They planned their depraved attack on the 5ft victim and Unwin tricked her into coming into his home, where McFall was waiting.

The Irishman had texted Unwin earlier that evening.

Before she was sexually assaulted, raped and killed, she had been forced to hand over her PINs and Unwin withdrew £1,000 from her bank accounts at cashpoints that night.

Each of the defendants blamed the other, seemingly hoping to confuse the jury.

McFall wrote to Unwin while they were on remand saying he had been to the prison library and found a "legal loophole'' despite what he admitted was damning evidence.

The prosecution claimed their loophole was simply to blame one another.

After the trial, the victim's sister branded the killers "evil'' and said they should never be released.