Man jailed for beheading teenage girlfriend with kitchen knife

-Mirror
Sheffield, England: A man has been jailed for life for beheading his teenage girlfriend with a kitchen knife while she was still alive.

Aras Hussein, 21, was found guilty of murdering 18-year-old Reema Ramzan in his kitchen last year.

Hussein was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the brutal attack, but jurors rejected his claim that his condition diminished his responsibility to manslaughter, and the motive for the killing remains unclear.

Today he was told that he must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison after judge Mrs Justice Laura Cox said he had used "severe and sustained" force to decapitate Reema in a "chilling and brutal" attack.

She said: "The pathological evidence indicated that she was likely to be alive while decapitation was taking place although at some stage, mercifully, she would have lost consciousness.

"The pain, terror, anguish and desperation she would therefore have suffered, as you inflicted these appalling injuries upon her and ended her life, is truly horrifying to contemplate.

"Why you did this to a young woman who was your girlfriend is unclear and may never be known."

The jury had previously heard how Reema arrived at Hussein's flat in Sheffield at around 2.30pm on June 4, bringing with her around £5,000 in cash, as well as her passport and a substantial amount of Iraqi currency.

The court was told Reema did not tell her family she was going to meet Hussein and it was not clear what her intentions had been prior to her death.

While they were in the flat, Hussein stabbed Reema in the chest and decapitated her.

Mrs Justice Cox said: "There was injury to the bone and you would have needed to restrain her initially."

The actual time of Reema's death was uncertain, but sometime after the defendant had killed her he also stabbed himself in the chest, before stripping out of his blood-stained clothes and walking outside completely naked with a blood-spattered wad of cash covering his genitals.

The court heard he approached a member of the public and asked him to take him to hospital. The man refused, but alerted emergency services who arrived minutes later.

Prosecutor Graham Reeds QC said the defendant told a police officer he had inflicted his own injuries, and as he was being taken to an ambulance he told paramedics: "I killed somebody and I need to die" and "why are you helping me? I have just murdered somebody".

A post mortem showed Reema had been stabbed in the shoulder, the shin and had injuries on her hands which were consistent with self-defence.

The court heard that Hussein had been violent and controlling to Reema during their relationship, with police becoming involved on numerous occasions.

Her family did not approve of the relationship and, at the time of her death, were under the impression that they were no longer together.

Mrs Justice Cox said: "Reema Ramzan was a dearly loved sister and daughter - a happy, kind and caring young woman who had everything to live for.

"You had been in a relationship with her since 2011 and the evidence indicates that, despite the disapproval of her family, she loved you and wanted to be with you."

"I have read the personal statements of Reema's mother and her brother, which set out in clear and moving terms the devastating effect upon them of Reema's death and the shocking and distressing way she was killed."

Miss Ramzan's family said in a statement released by the police after the verdict: "Words cannot describe the pain we feel not having her here.

"Reema was not just a beautiful girl to look at, she was a beautiful girl inside; so kind and helpful, she was always smiling and we loved her so much. We couldn't have wished for a more loving and caring daughter and sister."