Student Detained Over Ex-Girlfriend Stabbing

A student has been detained indefinitely in a mental hospital after a jury found he stabbed his former girlfriend to death in a lift.

An Old Bailey jury found Thomas Nugusse, 22, had stabbed Arsema Dawit more than 30 times in a lift at the flats where she lived in Waterloo, central London.

The court was told the defendant, of St Francis Way, Ilford, was unfit to take part in the trial as he had suffered brain damage in a suicide attempt in prison three-weeks after killing the 15-year-old.

As a result of Nugusse's injuries, the jury was asked only to decide if Nugusse was responsible for the killing in June last year.

The teenager was discovered in a pool of blood at the block of flats, last June.

Nugusse was said to be jealous after the break-up of their two-year relationship, the court heard.

Sarah Whitehouse, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey that Nugusse, originally from Eritrea, came to the UK and met Arsema when she was 13 at the St Michael Orthodox Church in Camberwell.

"The relationship developed between them that lasted some two years. However Arsema ended the relationship approximately two months before she met her death," she said.

"It appears Nugusse found it difficult for him to accept that. The motive for him having killed her was that he was gripped by jealousy and possessiveness."

On 16 April last year, Nugusse punched the 15-year-old in a McDonald’s restaurant in Walworth, south-east London, blackening her eye, after she had said ‘hello’ to a male friend, the prosecutor said.

The girl's mother, Tsehaynesh Medhane, called in the police, however Arsema was unwilling to file a formal complaint.

Mrs Medhane complained officers failed to save her daughter, and the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ordered an inquiry. She told the judge in a statement: "I have lost hope. My daughter is constantly in my mind.

"She was my precious child and there are no words to express how I feel. The house feels empty."

(JM/BMcC)