Valentin Lazar, 21, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years and six months for the murder of 45-year-old Maria Rawlings in Romford, east London. The attack occurred in May last year after the pair met on a bus.
The court heard that Lazar struck Rawlings with a wooden stick embedded with nails and a knife, then strangled her, leaving her naked in undergrowth. The victim, a mother-of-two with alcohol issues, had visited a hospital earlier that evening but left without being seen.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC described the murder as a 'savage and sustained attack' that caused 'a high degree of pain and suffering'. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones QC said it was 'an assault of exceptional violence'. A post-mortem revealed over 100 blunt force trauma injuries, 15 rib fractures, and defensive wounds.
Rawlings' father, Tony Rawlings, addressed Lazar in court, saying: 'Your 15 minutes of anger towards a defenceless grandmother has caused me and my family a lifetime of pain.' Her daughter Charlee Rawlings called Lazar 'evil' and hoped he would experience the pain he caused.
Detective Inspector Adam Callaghan of Scotland Yard said the attack was 'brutal and sustained', adding that Rawlings was 'particularly vulnerable' due to her intoxication. The judge noted that leaving the victim naked added to her 'humiliation and degradation'.
