A man who attacked and strangled a woman in shrubbery after their paths crossed on a bus has been jailed.
Valentin Lazar, 21, attacked 45-year-old Maria Rawlings with a wooden stick embedded with nails and a knife before leaving her in undergrowth in Little Heath near Romford last year.
The manual labourer, who admitted the murder, was branded "evil" by Ms Rawlings’s devastated family as he was jailed for a minimum of 23 years and six months at the Old Bailey today (February 3).
Lazar met Ms Rawlings in Ilford on May 3 as they both travelled on a bus just after 11pm. The pair, who were not previously known to each other, were captured on CCTV footage talking to each other after both got off the bus where it terminated in Little Heath.
Lazar, who will remain on license for the rest of his life, could be seen on the footage leading Ms Rawlings, who the court heard had been intoxicated, to an area of shrubbery. After around 30 minutes, Lazar re-appeared on CCTV without Ms Rawlings but in possession of a distinctive handbag she was carrying. He then boarded another bus and left the area.
Ms Rawling's naked body was discovered at around 2pm the following day with officers also finding her purse, footwear and bank cards discarded nearby.
They also recovered a cap that would later be identified as belonging to Lazar.
A post-mortem examination found mother-of-two Ms Rawlings died from neck compression and a blunt force head injury. She also had 15 rib fractures and further injuries.
Following a police appeal, Lazar, a Romanian national living in rented accommodation in East Ham, was identified on social media.
When he was arrested, officers found clothes matching those of the attacker with traces of blood on them. He pleaded guilty to Ms Rawlings' murder on November 19.
Ms Rawlings' father Tony thanked the police and the legal team for bringing Lazar to justice, adding: "My family and I have endured the most horrific eight months imaginable at the hands of a predator who decided to take my vulnerable, beautiful, daughter Maria's life.
"Maria was a mother to Katie and Charlie, a grandmother to Jay, Joe and Teddy, and a sister to Tony and Terry. Our lives have been changed forever. The impact will never end. How as a family we go forward without Maria is unthinkable, we are heart broken."
Detective Inspector Adam Callaghan, of the Met's specialist crime command, said: "I hope that Maria’s family can find a measure of closure in knowing that the man who took her from them has been removed from society where he can no longer pose a threat to women. Our thoughts are with them today.
"Violence against women in our society is all too prevalent and the Met fully recognises the fear and concern that an incident like this brings.
"As police officers, our job is to ensure that all London’s communities feel safe and this is something we, as an organisation, remain deeply committed to achieving."
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