A man described as “obsessed” with a 23-year-old woman has been jailed for life for her murder. Adedapo Adegbola, 40, pleaded guilty to killing Stephanie Irons at her flat in Mapperley, Nottingham, on October 21 last year.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that colleagues became concerned for Stephanie’s welfare after she sent messages on the night of the attack. Police found her seriously injured in the living room of her home on Westdale Lane West shortly after 10pm, and she was pronounced dead a short time later. A trail of evidence, including blood-stained trainers and a jumper, was discovered on nearby streets.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce KC said Adegbola forced his way into the home and left at 7.39pm, taking the victim’s keys and phone. He discarded his clothing and the murder weapon after wiping it clean. Mr Joyce said: “It is quite plain after killing her he must have sat on the sofa as his footprints were in the blood. It’s the prosecution’s case that he was obsessed with this woman and could and would not accept this relationship was over.”
Sentencing Adegbola to life with a minimum term of 25 years, Judge Nirmal Shant KC said he targeted the jugular and killed Stephanie “because she attempted to end the relationship”. He described her as a “young girl who was compassionate” and said her family’s devastation was profound.
Stephanie’s mother, Donna Fox, told the court her daughter was her “world and best friend”. She said: “I have fallen into an abyss and I am still falling. She lit up a room, she was kind, passionate and caring.” A second suspect, Mary Onolunosen, 40, has been charged with assisting an offender and is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on March 6.
