London woman who murdered her ex is jailed for 20 years

Hasna Begum (pictured in her police mugshot) started stalking Pietro Sanna, 23, on social media after they broke up

A jealous Clintons shop assistant who donned a blonde wig and black leather gloves before stabbing her ex-lover 36 times was jailed for at least 20 years today.

Hasna Begum, 25, started stalking Italian part-time DJ Pietro Sanna, 23, on social media after they broke up last December.

When Begum found out a woman called Giulia Consonni – who Mr Sanna had met on Tinder – was following her ex-boyfriend on Instagram, she called her an ‘ugly b****’ and sent threatening messages.

The 4ft 11in Begum made her way to Mr Sanna’s home in Canning Town, east London on June 23 and knifed him 36 times.

She made off with his mobile phone and ‘rubbed out’ his social media profiles in the days after the killing.

The shop worker said that she was ‘accessorising’ when she put on a blonde wig and gloves before making her way to Mr Sanna’s house.

Begum claimed she was defending herself after Mr Sanna kicked her in the chest, then grabbed a knife which he held towards her.

But a jury at Inner London Crown Court took two hours to convict her of murder today.

Sentencing her to life imprisonment and ordering she serve at least 20 years before she can be considered for parole, Judge Jeremy Donne, QC, told her: ‘You were seen by a witness to be angry.

‘You had certainly behaved in an angry way in the days leading up to the 21st June, as evidenced by your threatening messages to Giulia Consonni, who had done little more than follow your former boyfriend on Instagram.

‘Having gone to Pietro Sanna’s address, having a some point armed yourself with at least one knife – I say at least one knife because two knifes were found to be missing from the address afterwards – the number and direction of knife wounds, particularly to the back which tend to point from the extremes of the body towards the centre, either demonstrate a complete change in position or the simultaneous infliction of wounds with knifes in both hands.

Before killing Pietro Sanna (pictured), Begum was seen climbing out of her kitchen window shortly after 6am on June 23 wearing a blonde wig and black leather gloves

Before killing Pietro Sanna (pictured), Begum was seen climbing out of her kitchen window shortly after 6am on June 23 wearing a blonde wig and black leather gloves

‘Whether the wounds to the lower body were caused as he kicked out from the ground or by you when he was prone on the ground, simply to inflict further damage to him is again not to the point – what is relevant is that you continued to attack, causing a total of 36 wounds to his body, the overwhelming majority of which would have caused profuse blood loss and two of which puncturing his lungs.

‘After the attack you remained in his room and while he was dying or when he was dead, you helped yourself to some of his clothing and left the address, taking with you the knife or knifes and Pietro Sanna’s telephone.

‘Why you did this is not entirely clear but the indication is that you had an unhealthy obsession with Pietro Sanna.

‘What you did was a terribly wicked thing, it has had the damaging effect of depriving a family a son, it has also had the damaging effect of depriving your family from you.

‘All murders are completely senseless, this is both tragic and senseless.’

The pair had met in Canary Wharf where Begum worked at Clinton Cards and Mr Sanna worked at sandwich chain Birley’s.

Begum came from a traditionalist Muslim background and said her Bangladeshi parents would not consent to her drinking and having boyfriends, so they would meet secretly at his home during the year long relationship.

When quizzed by police following her arrest on June 28, Begum said she had not seen or spoken to Mr Sanna (pictured) in months

When quizzed by police following her arrest on June 28, Begum said she had not seen or spoken to Mr Sanna (pictured) in months

Giving evidence she said wearing a wig was ‘normal for her and she wore the gloves ‘to accessorise’ her outfit.

She said she believed he was cheating on her as she received texts ‘not meant for her’ and noticed a full packet of condoms had emptied during her visits to his home.

Begum was seen climbing out of her kitchen window shortly after 6am on June 23 wearing a blonde wig and black leather gloves.

CCTV cameras caught her jumping into a taxi and making her way to Mr Sanna’s home in Ravenscroft Grove and was seen by a neighbour banging loudly on his front door.

Just over an hour later, neighbours reported hearing a male voice shouting ‘I’m dying, I’m dying’ before his lifeless body was finally discovered three days later.

Begum fled the scene with his mobile phone, calling a taxi from the car park outside to get treatment for a cut on her finger.

She then returned hom to wash her blood-soaked clothes.

Begum had Mr Sanna’s phone in her possession after the killing but called it on 24, 25 and 26 June.

When quizzed by police following her arrest on June 28, she said she had not seen or spoken to Mr Sanna in months.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said Mr Sanna’s mobile was found inside the pocket of a grey hoodie found in Begum’s wardrobe alongside some hair extensions.

Police also discovered that Begum had used the phone to change Mr Sanna’s Instagram username – from Pieztek to Sarah654ty – and profile picture.

Mr Penny said this was an attempt to ‘scrub out’ the 23-year-old digitally, as well as physically, after the stabbing.

A black ladies left-hand leather glove was recovered from a bin on the first-floor bathroom in her home bearing damage to the undersides of the fingers.

An expert was able to determine that the slash which penetrated the fabric lining matched the location of Begum’s cut.

Begum claimed Mr Sanna had bombarded her with prank calls after they broke up and invited her to his house that morning to talk about the relationship.

She insisted he threatened her with a kitchen knife when she grabbed his phone to look for evidence he was unfaithful.

Begum, of Millwall, Isle of Dogs, denied but was convicted of murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 20 years.

Mr Sanna’s mother: He told me: “Pietro is dead, he’s been stabbed”

Speaking after Begum was jailed for life for the murder of Pietro Sanna, the victim’s mother, Valentina Coiana, said in a statement read to the court:

‘What words can one use to explain the pain for losing their son? How can I explain the weight pressing on my chest when I realise he is no longer here?

‘Pietro was the second of my three children. The eldest one is called Giomaria, and the youngest one is called Marisa.

‘Pietro attended school with very little interest, and this was for me a source of great concern, also because I feared that he might be going down the slippery slope.

‘When he moved from Italy to London to join his brother, who had been working there for a few years, I was happy about his new life. Despite the fact that we didn’t have a great relationship, we were starting to create one through the distance, with messages and replies that came after days, and rare but long telephone calls at night, when he was off work, through which we were mending the bond between mother and son by talking and forgiving each other.

‘I had also changed my life, separating from his father and starting from scratch in my home town, together with his sister who is studying at University.

‘We were supporting each other, Pietro and I, by telling each other about our main job and our passion that maybe could have turned into a proper job.

‘Music was Pietro’s passion, he made music and was starting to become known as a DJ. He would tell me about birthday parties where at times he played music he didn’t like, and I encouraged him and told him to grit his teeth and keep gaining experience, considering that when you’re 23 you have many opportunities in front of you, and maybe the right contact would have come when least expected.

‘I’m happy to have told him that I was proud of him for what he was building and that I was sorry for all the times we had argued.

‘My brother was to get married in July, and I was planning to attend with my children, as Giomaria and Pietro were supposed to come back for a short holiday. Unfortunately it didn’t go that way.

‘Everything happened so suddenly that there was no time to actually understand it.

‘I received a phone call from Giomaria that froze me. He told me:”Mum, Pietro is dead, he’s been stabbed”. Every time I remember that, it seems like a nightmare, it seems like it was never a real experience. It was Giomaria who found him and tried to resuscitate him, called the ambulance and the police.

‘I cannot even imagine that scene, I cannot imagine Pietro dead, killed with 32 stabs and found after three days.

‘I can feel the cold, the fear, the loneliness he experienced in dying that way, and I feel the cold, the fear, the loneliness myself, for not being able to talk to him again, for not being able to hug him again, for not being able to see the realisation of all his life projects.

‘The pain caused by his death has been shared by all his friends, the old ones and the new ones in London: everyone remembered him as a young man who was always happy, cheerful, helpful, and caring.

‘Despite the fact that we go on with our jobs, studies, and daily lives, there is a void in our family that will never be filled.

‘It is an underlying pain which at any moment could turn into a drowsy apathy, infinite tiredness, and understandable depression. I’m trying to keep an eye on Pietro’s brother Giomaria, on Pietro’s sister Marisa, on Pietro’s father, and on myself.’



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