Man jailed for life over murder of Droitwich Spa woman
Martin Saberi, 55, was on licence after serving 16 years for robbery when he killed Amy Griffiths at her housing association flat in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, in January 2019.
Saberi killed Amy Griffiths after meeting her on a transgender dating site and has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years and 10 months.
He was on licence after serving 16 years for robbery when he killed Amy Griffiths at her housing association flat in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, in January 2019.
Worcester Crown Court was told Saberi used a baseball bat to attack the 51-year-old after travelling by train from London, where he had stabbed another woman in the neck outside a shop three days earlier.
The killer, of Brackley Close, Wallington, south London, had claimed someone else was responsible but admitted murder, wounding and possession of a knife at a hearing last month.
Saberi had also stolen a laptop and an Xbox from Ms Griffith's flat in Chalverton Court.
He had met Ms Griffiths in person only once before, in June 2018, but they had exchanged numerous messages over a period of months which appeared to show an affectionate relationship.
Saberi, who is said to suffer from PTSD and is being treated at high-security Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, appeared for his sentencing hearing by video-link.
Wearing a black long-sleeved zip-up top, Saberi showed no emotion as the court was told Ms Griffiths and his other victim, a 59-year-old woman who walked with the aid of a stick, had suffered knife wounds to the same part of the neck.
Jailing Saberi for life, Judge James Burbidge QC said the first victim, who needed 30 stitches, was "most fortunate'' not to have died."
Pointing out that the minimum term will not expire until Saberi is almost 80, the judge told him: "Your position is aggravated by your previous convictions for violence, starting with an indecent assault on a female in 1993.
"In 2000, for an offence of robbery, you were sentenced to life imprisonment after you entered a jeweller's shop, posed as a genuine customer and produced a gun.
"So far as the killing of Amy Griffiths is concerned, I accept that your mental illness was a factor in the killing. Whether it was a significant factor is difficult to determine.
"There are a number of aggravating factors - Amy was killed in her own home and, when you left her dead, you stole some of her belongings - a despicable act.
"The violence you engaged in was extreme.''
The judge said there was no suggestion "this was a murder aggravated by hostility towards the deceased because of her transgender identity''.
After the body was discovered, police at Stoke Newington arrested Saberi, who reacted by clapping his hands in a "sardonic gesture'' towards officers.