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The London Criminal Court, called the Old Bailey
Photo: MARK THOMAS / EPA
The defendant extorted the credit card details of a pensioner, killed the woman and spent 13,000 pounds (15,100 euros) from her account on luxury items: A 24-year-old has been sentenced to life imprisonment in England for murder and aggravated robbery. The man must go to prison for at least 31 years. Only then can he be released, as London's Old Bailey Criminal Court ruled. His 28-year-old girlfriend was sentenced to 15 years in prison for robbery, but was acquitted of the murder charge.
The couple had attacked the 71-year-old at an ATM in northwest London in the summer of 2022 and captured her credit card and front door key. When the elderly woman then changed her credit card, the couple again broke into the reclusive woman and blackmailed the new PIN code. Then the man killed the woman to cover up the crimes. The perpetrators then used their victim's credit card to make purchases for days, including perfume, a television, telephones, watches and clothing.
It was only after weeks that neighbors reported the woman missing. Police officers then found the bound body in her bedroom. Two days later, the couple was arrested.
lpz/dpa